Coming out of our shells-

And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. Matthew 24:10-12

I've been doing a lot of thinking here lately about how hard it is to get past folks hurting us. Especially the people that we trusted the most. People who have been hurt repeatedly tend to build a barrier around their hearts in hopes of not being vulnerable to others anymore. Think about a Box Turtle for a minute. Funny I know, but just hear me out. The ol' Box Turtle was designed by God to have that hard shell to hide in so as to protect himself from the dangers of predators, and other perils in the woods. If things don't feel right, he just pulls his little hands, feet, head and tail in and closes up shop so that nothing can hurt him. When he feels safe again, out he comes, and off he goes to the mushroom patch for a fine feeding.
Isn't it funny how much we are like that. As soon as we get hurt by someone, we put ourselves into a shell to guard our hearts so as not to be hurt again. But the problem for many of us is that we don't come out of our shells, and end up missing so much of life. The longer we stay in our shell, the colder our hearts become to others, and we wind up finding it harder to forgive those who have hurt us.

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In Matthew 24, Jesus is explaining to us events that will take place in the end times. People will turn against one another with increasing frequency.  In verse 13 He says "But he who endures to the end shall be saved."  Part of enduring to the end is being able to come out of our shells and continually forgive folks that hurt us (Matthew 6:14-15). There is nothing in the Word that says that this will ever be easy. But without forgiveness, the love of many will grow cold.
I have recently lost some of the best friends I've ever had in a short amount of time. Those "falling outs" made me personally feel like climbing into my shell, and locking up. But my God and Savior expects me to live better than that. And with trying to be obedient to Him (though not always easy) I forgive the folks who hurt me, and pray for those friendships to be restored.

I feel like it's kind of like this...If we keep our hearts locked up in hopes of not allowing people to hurt us all the time, then we are missing out in life. We could very well be letting folks that God intended to be in our lives pass us by. That means new friends as well as old, and possible life partners. Christ has wonderful plans for you and I. Many times those plans are fulfilled by the people He wishes to cross our paths. People that can bless us with warmth, laughter, and encouragement. I want God to continually bring those people into my life and bless me with them.
I hope and pray that if you have recently been wronged by a friend or had any kind of a falling out with someone you care for deeply, that you will come out of your shell, muster up the strength that God will give you to forgive them and say, I will always be a friend to you, and I will always be here for you!
Thanks as always for reading!

God Bless,

Kev-

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