ate together. And touched by a measure of kindness from me
that could only come from the Holy Spirit (I promise you), she
melted into tears in my presence.
You know what I found out that day? This will surprise you,
I think. It surprised me. Even while I’d been the one growing
hurt and angry by her attitude, by the minute, she’d been
quietly struggling within her own heart over all of this discord
too. She told me how she’d been wrestling with insecurities
and other issues, enough that she was actually losing sleep
and appetite. Plus, the sense of isolation she’d been
increasingly feeling when others, who’d been a tad cold toward
her in response to her treatment of me, had become a heavy
burden on her shoulders. I began to realize what Paul meant in
that passage from 2 Corinthians 2 when he said that “excessive
sorrow” can overwhelm. But now, through forgiveness and a
simple act of kindness, the ice was breaking, along with the
enemy’s design—not only his design to ruin a friendship but
also to ruin my prayer life in the process.
The next time I hit my knees, the echo of that long, lonely
cavern gave way to the floodgates of God’s grace, pouring out
over me in a fresh, fantastic way.