Come Together

By Jane Thornton 

"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

"I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

"Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." Matthew 18:15-20 (NIV)

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I hate confrontations. I’d rather stew in the bathtub, hashing over my husband’s hurtful words. I’d rather nurse my wounds by the refrigerator after my child has stormed into her bedroom and slammed the door. I’d rather pour out my woes to a friend about the student who disrespected me. I’d rather do almost anything than deal with an emotionally charged, heated confrontation.

But the Holy Spirit comes to me in the bath, in the kitchen, or through the phone and urges me to work it out.

Many a time, when I am dwelling on anger or hurt, I cry out to God about injustice. “Surely after all these years of marriage he knows________!” Fill in the blank:  that hurts my feelings, or that irritates me, or whatever. Other times frustration with my kids bubbles up. “Lord, how many times do I have to tell them to ________?” Fill in the blank: call home, or empty the dishwasher, or whatever.

God hasn’t spoken to me in words, but invariably I remember this scripture or just have the strong compulsion to talk out the pressing issue.

I can’t say I have the desire to talk it out. What if I make it worse? What if, God forbid, I am the one in the wrong? I fear I’ll cry or yell or lose my words and logic. But I believe that persistent impulse is the prompting of the Holy Spirit to follow these instructions.

And He has promised that when we come together for His sake, He is there with us.

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