Latest / Prayer Before Work / S01E19-The Conversation You've Been Rewriting in Your Head
Transcript
- Sean Graver: Hey, good morning. I'm glad you're here. Well, before we get into this day, let's take a few minutes and bring it to God. Now, this one might hit close to home for you. We're going to be in the book of Proverbs, Chapter 27, looking at verses five and six, where it says, Better is an open rebuke than hidden love, and that wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses. You know, that phrase, wounds from a friend can be trusted, is kind of, it's one of the most, probably one of most challenging things Proverbs says, in my opinion. The uncomfortable conversation or the honest feedback, maybe it's the thing you've been working up the courage to say, and that's actually an act of love. Now, the version that just smiles and says nothing, well, that's the less loving one. And most of us have a conversation we've been avoiding. Now maybe we've rehearsed it a dozen times in the shower or we've rewritten the opening line in our head. We've imagined how the other person might react. And then we get to the moment and we find a reason to wait for the right time, maybe the right setting. Maybe we wait until things settle down a bit. But here's what I've noticed. The longer the hard conversation waits, the harder it gets. The issue doesn't resolve itself. The relationship doesn't get closer, but the resentment on both sides quietly grows. Now, courage in this context isn't about being blunt or brutal. It's about caring enough about the person in the relationship to say the thing that needs to be said with grace, I mean, with humility and with their good in mind. I mean, what conversation has your name on it today? Let's pray about that. God, you know the conversation I need to have. I've been putting it off because I'm not sure how it will go. And honestly, I'm probably a little afraid, but help me to care more about the person and the relationship than about my own comfort. Would you give me the words? mean, not the perfect ones, but just the honest ones. Help me go in with their good in mind. not just my need to finally say the thing. And help me trust that a hard conversation handled with love is one of the most generous things I can do for someone. So give me the courage today, not tomorrow, today. I pray in Jesus' name, amen. Okay, now go make today count.