Holy cow you guys, week twenty-five?! Time is flying by so quickly and I feel as if I just started these encouragement posts last month.

If you read this post, maybe you saw the picture I included that a friend had sent me. Here it is:

This image is a very valuable lesson—oftentimes we wonder, “What’s the point of this relationship?” It might not be going how you want it to of how you planned, it might be failing, or maybe you’re just confused about what is going on.

I’ve felt this way with many of my previous struggling relationships. I’d looked at them with the mindset of, “Why did I have to go through this if it just failed in the end? What was the point of the hurt?”

Well if you asked me what I learned from that relationship, you would be hearing a lot of things I learned!

These relationships are not for nothing. They will help you grow and learn, even if in the moment they feel excruciatingly painful.

One story that comes to mind takes place when Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus, handing him over to Roman soldiers to be crucified. Judas, one of Jesus’s own disciples and closest friends, betrayed him.

Jesus was hurt. When he was praying in the garden of Gethsemane, he asked that the cup might be taken from him. We know he was talking about the crucifixion and separation from God, but sometimes I wonder if he was also asking for a chance for Judas to change his mind or possibly not betray him.

I’ve been betrayed by friends—not nearly as horribly as what Jesus experienced obviously—but it still hurts like heck. And I’m sure you’ve experienced this as well. Maybe you’re even going through something like that right now, wondering, “What is going on with this relationship?!”.

But here’s what I want to finish with: your relationships are not for nothing. They will serve you, whether it be for a reason, season, or a lifetime. And they all have had or will have a purpose.

God is making everything beautiful in it’s time (Ecclesiastes 3:11) and that includes your relationships. Sometimes beautiful means you’re no longer in contact, sometimes it means you are best friends. But it’s going to work out, whether you see it now or not. You’ve got this, friend!

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.”
‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬-‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

So sorry for the very unedited and totally and unashamedly procrastinated post. I hope it was mildly encouraging.😉

Have a great Sunday! How was y’all’s fourth of July? Any fun things happen?

~Willow

P.S. If you got two notifications about two other posts being published and are curious about why you can’t see them, that was an accident. When I was trying to post this, for some reason WordPress decided to rebel and post those two instead of this. So just ignore those notifications—those posts are still in the works!