Hendrickson Publishers - Reconciliation: Spiritual Practices for Everyday Life

Everyday life today is busier and more distracting than it has ever been before. While cell phones and texting make it easier to keep track of children and each other, they also make it harder to get away from the demands that overwhelm us. Time, it seems, is a shrinking commodity. But God, the Creator of time, has given us the keys to leading a life that may be challenging but not overwhelming. In fact, he offers us tools to do what seems impossible and come away refreshed and renewed. These tools are called spiritual practices, or spiritual disciplines.

Spiritual practices are holy habits. They are rooted in Gods word, and they go back to creation itself. God has hardwired us to thrive when we obey him, even when it seems like his instructions defy our common sense. When we engage in the holy habits that God has ordained, time takes on a new dimension. What seems impossible is actually easy; its easy because we are tapping into Gods resources.

The holy habits that we call spiritual practices are all geared to position us in a place where we can allow the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us, to grant us power and strength to do the things we cant do on our own. They take us to a place where we can become intimate with God.

While holy habits and everyday life may sound like opposites, they really arent.

As you learn to incorporate spiritual practices into your life, youll find that everyday life is easier. At the same time, you will draw closer to God and come to a place where you can luxuriate in his rich blessings. Here is a simple example. Elizabeth Collings hated running household errands. Picking up dry cleaning, doing the grocery shopping, and chauffeuring her kids felt like a never-ending litany of menial chores. One day she had a simple realization that changed her life. That day she began to use her chore time as a time of prayer and fellowship with God.

Whenever Elizabeth walked the aisle of the supermarket, she prayed for each person who would eat the item of food she selected. On her way to pick up her children, she would lay their lives out before God, asking him to be there for them even when she couldnt. Each errand became an opportunity for fellowship with God. The chore that had been so tedious became a precious part of her routine that she cherished.

The purpose of these study guides is to help you use spiritual practices to make your own life richer, fuller, and deeper. The series includes twenty-four spiritual practices that are the building blocks of Christian spiritual formation. Each practice is a holy habit that has been modeled for us in the Bible. The practices are acceptance, Bible study and meditation, celebration, community, confession, contemplation, faith, fasting, forgiveness, gratitude, hospitality, justice, mentoring, outreach, prayer, reconciliation, Sabbath and rest, service, silence, simplicity, solitude, stewardship, submission, and worship.

As you move through the practices that you select, remember Christs promise in Matthew 11:2830:

Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.

Introduction

to the Practice of Reconciliation

One of the stickier Christian practices to which believers are summoned is reconciliation. It is held out as an ideal but is often difficult to achieve in real life. Sometimes reconciliation means advancing to a place that is humanly impossible and unthinkable, as was the case for Hosea when God commanded him to take back his adulterous wife (Hosea 3).

Reconciliation is not just making up. It also means that when you hear of the pain of those you may consider your enemies, you keep your heart in a posture of sincere sorrow (Proverbs 24). Reconciliation is so difficult, in fact, that only Gods power enables true reconciliation. In this way, being reconciled to your brothers and sisters becomes the signature feature that marks one who is walking in the light.

Reconciliation is part and parcel of forgiving and being forgiven. Is it possible to forgive without reconciliation? Yes, we can forgive someone with our mind, heart, and spirit and still not be reconciled with them. Reconciliation is a mutual action and experience. In order for us to reconcile with someone, that person has to want to reconcile with us. If God had forgiven the children of Israel but they didnt repent or want to be in relationship with him again, reconciliation could not take place. Thats true for us, too. Fortunately for us, God always wants us to be in relationship with him.

C H A P T E R 1

Reconciling with God

The Story of Redeeming Love

Then the Lord said to me, Go and love your wife again, even though she commits adultery with another lover. This will illustrate that the Lord still loves Israel, even though the people have turned to other gods and love to worship them.

Hosea 3:1

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For this study, read Hosea 1:13:5.

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In Francine Rivers best-selling novel Redeeming Love, she uses the book of Hosea as the basis for a poignant story about Michael Hosea, a good man who rescues a woman who has been forced into a life of prostitution. She has the face of an angel and a heart of stone. Over and over again, she tries to return to her old life, and each time Michael patiently goes after her, forgiving her for unspeakable acts of betrayal, anger, and hostility. His tender love for her seems impossible.

This story mirrors the Old Testament account of the prophet Hosea, whom God instructed to marry a prostitute. Hoseas life with his wife Gomer becomes a symbol of Gods love for his adulterous people, the children of Israel, and his willingness to restore them to their standing as the chosen people. It is a vivid picture of Yahweh tenderly wooing them back into relationship with him.