Fighting To Relate

It’s a struggle for me to relate.

Often the issue is that I am more concerned about how we’re different than what and who we have in common. I feel sometimes what I say falls on deaf ears and what is said is bizarre and not thought through. There are a host of reasons why it’s better to keep a casual, surface way of relating. So many excuses why it’s not worth making the effort to go beyond the surface.

That is why it’s a struggle for me to relate.

That is exacerbated by the struggle to maintain good relations within my own family. Being Dad, being husband, being brother and being friend is tough even with those I love. They make demands, they come from differing perspectives, they are very different to me. It’s a struggle to keep up with all that. I do well to keep my head above water.

Then I look to the Saviour. I read of His engagement with the different folks He engaged with. I look at His time with the disciples who did not always understand what He said and when it came to the crunch left Him. I see how He didn’t reject Peter even after Peter had denied Him. All these challenging issues that would have been good enough reason to cut the off and start again. He could have done all He needed to do on His own. He is the Son of God! Yet here He is pouring His life and heart into His family of followers.

He continues to relate to those who are with Him on the journey. He continues to relate and that attracts others to join Him on the journey. Indeed it is that capacity to relate – to love by giving of Himself to the needs of others for the glory of His Father – that is a compelling aspect of His character.

With His life breathed into me, it is for me to continue the fight to relate. The first step of that being, every day, to determine to die to self so that He can live through me, so others can relate.

For His Name’s Sake

Shalom

C. L. J. Dryden