Repairing The Breach
Trust equity is perhaps the most difficult thing to earn from people. It can take years to build this equity up and it can take mere moments to wipe it all away. Though I’m not living in condemnation, I have been reminded of times when I’ve dropped the ball and failed to follow through. These painful moments are stark reminders of the importance consistently earning trust. They’re also times when it’s so encouraging to have friends that will love you in spite of what you do, not because of what you do.
The kind of friends that will go to the mattresses with you (Godfather reference) are those that will be there with you when you’re wrong – and tell you so without leaving your side. I count these friends – covenant friendships - as invaluable. We all go up and down, we all make mistakes and we all grow from those mistakes. These are the same friends that will also be with you on the highest points of your life to celebrate with you.
Jesus said it best in John chapter 15, verses 12-13:
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
If you’re one of my friends that I’ve dropped the ball with, or someone I’ve lost trust equity with at some place or time, then I want to tell you that I’m sorry. And I want to ask for your forgiveness.
I don’t want to go through life with someone having anything to hold against me. I desire to have the humility to admit when I’m wrong, the character to do what is right and the relationship to be a friend through thick and thin.
As we all do life together and share in the world of ministry, it’s imperative that we work harder on our relationships than we do on our skills.
I want to repair the breach.
If I’ve done something that needs correction in your life, please let me know.
If you know someone who has wronged you, offer them forgiveness.
I’m thankful for God giving me a holy discontent and gently urging me to rebuilt trust equity and repair the breach. But for the grace of God, go I.
Mine. Mine. Mine.
God is speaking clearly. Or perhaps I’m listening more attentively. Either way, I’ve been pummeled by His love, admonished with His gentleness and encouraged with His kindness. He’s teaching and reminding me that everything is His.
“When I think that something is mine, the only person I’m fooling is myself.”
If there’s really nothing new under the sun, then thinking that I came up with the idea is flatly absurd. God is the owner of everything and that would include new ideas (at least new to me). Therefore, rather than assume I somehow deserve to take the lead for every idea I come up with, I should first acknowledge that if I had an idea, God gave it to me. I then need to ask him what He wants me to do with it, not try and figure things out on my own.
“If I don’t stop to ask God if he wants me to do something, why should I be surprised when things don’t work out the way I planned?”
It’s very easy for me to make a decision on my own. After all, I have experience to know how to work through situations and make snap-decisions. The problem with snap-decisions is that, unless they’re directed by God, I risk making the wrong decision.
If I really want to live a God-centered – a God-chaser – life, then my will should be His will. The best way to know His will is to pray about everything.
“Could it be your arrogance that makes you think God owes you an explanation?” (from Francis Chan)
The short answer is: “Yes”. God owes me nothing. I owe Him everything. For me to assume that God needs to share his motives, timing and decisions with me every step of the way – especially when I can’t understand why things are happening – is nothing short of arrogance.
The revelation God gave me after praying about this was: “If God doesn’t tell me why something is or isn’t happening then He doesn’t need for me to konw.”
These God-thoughts have been revelation to me. I hope they resonate with you, too.
I'm Anthony Coppedge, a follower of Jesus, a husband to my uber-bride and father to four great kids. I help ministries leverage technology and communicate with a digitally-infused culture. I'm passionate about this, so that makes me a Technology & Communications Evangelist. I attend and volunteer at Gateway Church in Southlake, TX and love it!
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