Horace and I were watching the second session of the Vineyard conference being held in Cincinnati last week, when near the end of the session, they introduced Pastor Miguel Aviles. During his talk, Pastor Aviles shared about a broken relationship he and his wife had experienced with another family on their leadership team. With time, in their hearts they had forgiven, but the close friendship they once shared had not been restored. Three years later, God started speaking to Pastor Aviles about going to the other family and asking for forgiveness. At first, he resisted, but after a great deal of anguish and prayer, he and his wife met with that couple to ask for forgiveness. The fruit of their obedience to God was that their friendship and close relationship was restored.
We first came to the Vineyard in April of 1998. There were many families, several of whom we developed close relationships with. Horace and I embraced the people we met. We loved them and felt honored to be a part of their lives. To us, they were our family.
During our years in leadership at VCP, we learned that people are broken, and relationships can be messy. Feelings get hurt sometimes, often followed by people leaving the congregation in misunderstanding or anger. I must confess that each time a family left on bad terms, I felt it deeply. Anytime I thought about these families over the years, there were feelings of failure, hurt, and a deep sense of grief and loss. As the Holy Spirit does, He shines the light of truth on every area of our hearts. God cares about us enough to pour out His healing. Because He is a relational God, He prompts us toward forgiveness and restoration. Jesus is always wooing us to come into His passionate presence.
Sometimes, our relationship with Jesus gets broken, too. Perhaps we are struggling through life circumstances or hurt by other people close to us. It’s so easy to isolate during these times and try to work through life stuff alone. However, that is not the Kingdom way. God always calls us into closer, more intimate relationship, with Him and with one another. We are the needy people of God… and that’s the beautiful place where Jesus meets us.
You can view Pastor Miguel Aviles’ talk here:
