A new start – Day 6
A new start … by opening your heart to love again
Se(di)ngolwa (t)sa Bibele
1 JOHANNE 4
MAREKA 11
[Background: I often receive e-mails from readers asking me if God would ever give them a second chance at love. This story might help you not to miss the opportunities already presented in your life.]
Next to Mary’s open grave, her friend Sam wept uncontrollably. Her death was clearly a tremendous blow to him. Most of the neighbours around the tomb looked at each other in surprise. No one ever realised that Sam, “the gentle giant” as they referred to him, actually had a deep love and caring for his neighbour in the retirement village.
After most of the mourners had left the cemetery, the pastor approached Sam who was still sobbing next to the grave. “Sam,” the minister started with a soft voice. “I am sure Mary is at a better place and she appreciated your love tremendously while she was still alive.” After this comment, Sam started wailing even louder.
When he finally calmed down, Sam turned his head towards the pastor and said, “Reverend, I loved this woman for many, many years. There was one day … one day I almost told her! But, I didn’t and now it is too late.”
After Sam’s divorce a few years earlier, he started to isolate himself out of fear of being hurt again. Next to Mary’s grave, he suddenly realised that his fear robbed him from experiencing a second chance at love.
Are you currently finding yourself in a similar situation as Sam? Have you allowed a broken relationship from the past to rob you of another chance at love? Has a friend or family member, who disappointed or hurt you in the past, caused you to have no remarkable friendships today or no relationship with your family?
Listen again to Paul’s words in 1 John 4:18: “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear … The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” In Mark 11:25 we read: “But when you are praying, first forgive anyone whom you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive you your sins too.”
God can heal any hurt – if you let him do it. He can give you a second chance at love and happiness. Do not isolate yourself by pushing away the people in your life. Nothing can be worse than standing next to an open grave, realising that you will never again have an opportunity to tell a special person in your life that you love him or her! Do it today. God bless.
