“If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.” James 1:5
Heavenly Father, I begin every day grateful for your daily mercies, eternal kindness, and measureless generosity. Today I need what you promise in this verse. I need wisdom—wisdom for loving well in complex relationships and broken storylines. And I’m sure I’m in good company.
Abba, help us know the difference between overlooking a fault and covering up something that needs to be dealt with “now.” When does patience turn into denial, and turning the other cheek become unhealthy enabling? When is “trying to be nice” just a form of spiritualized conflict avoidance? When should we risk losing relationship because of a greater commitment to honor you and protect others?
Father, help me—help us steward our history of trauma and emotional triggers. Slow us down when we begin to import backlogged pain into fresh wounds. Someone who hurt us this year isn’t responsible for the accumulated harm we carry from previous years.
Continue to reveal the wounds we carry still needing your grace, surgery, and rehab. And make clear the relational patterns I (we) learned in response to abandonment, betrayal, neglect, and abuse. Father, grant us grace for repairing and repenting.
Because of the Gospel, a Day is coming when we will be made perfect in love, and we will love perfectly forever. And, hallelujah, also because of the Gospel, you already love us perfectly, fully, and will do so forever. That changes everything, Abba. So Very Amen.
