Listen to today’s devo!

I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused. (Isa. 21:2)

Mike and I were best of friends. We enjoyed each other’s company on a weekly basis, trusting each other with our deepest, most personal thoughts. Our wives were just as close. It was a great arrangement and looked like it would last our lifetimes.

Over the course of several years, something toxic began to surface, weakening our

relationship. My dear friend pulled back. He was suspicious. It was eventually revealed that his wife was having an affair, which led to a nasty divorce. Afterward, I tried to rebuild our relationship, but he didn’t want to talk to me about it nor did he want to explain. Our friendship ended with “I don’t want to ever see or talk to you again as long as I live.”

Isaiah was a great detector of whirlwinds. He saw them coming well in advance. He knew that innocent people were going to get hurt, that betrayals and looting loomed. With tragedy on the horizon, many question whether God can be trusted with our pain, and to that, Isaiah said, “Yes, God promises to end our grief.”

It’s tough to be collateral damage in a painful relationship, but it happens every day. But hope for healing resides in God alone. We can seek reconciliation, attempt to repair the broken bridge, but in the end, the answer to our groaning can only be found in God alone.

Remember that relational healing begins with a relationship to the Healer.

Frank Robinson is a retired Wesleyan pastor with thirty-five years of service in the Pacific Southwest District. He lives in Cornville, Arizona with his wife, Thelma.

© 2020 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.