The recovery of the house Apostle Sergio Enríquez O.
Guatemala, February 29 Year of the Abundance
God is interested in the restoration of our family; that it may return to the divine order; He gave us His promise that in the last days He will send Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and vice versa, and that time is now. The first thing we must do in order to recover our family is to recognize in what areas we have failed, then repent and ask for forgiveness so that God can work His restoration. Many of us come from dysfunctional homes, in which we learned many things that we now practice, even though they are wrong. Maybe we grew up in homes where there was a lack of communication and this caused deep wounds in our hearts; if we keep thinking that this is normal, we will be repeating the same story, nevertheless, if we come at the feet of Jesus and receive Him as our Savior, He will teach us the proper way to treat us, and He will transform our homes. As an example, the husband must know how to treat his wife in all aspects since she is his sister, his friend, his pigeon, his chosen one. Our treats at home have to be cordial and with love; not forgetting that the woman is the weaker vessel and the man has the responsibility to protect, cover and love his family. The Lord promised that He would restore our home and edify our house, but we must do our part of the process; namely, asking for and giving forgiveness to our family, changing those attitudes that keep us from unity and love. It might seem impossible to restore our homes, but if we leave everything in God´s hands, He will work doing the impossible. The Bible describes how God intervened in many homes, healing wounds and restoring them. In Ex 18:5-6 LBLA, says how Moses recovered his family, which was separated from him. The context reveals that he left his family because he needed to do a very important task, which consisted in the liberation of Israel from Egypt´s bondage. The same happens with some fathers that work all day long, and when they return home, they have no time to communicate with their family, and this could be a reason for losing our home. Moses worked very hard for God, but he was losing the relationship with his family; he then decided to camp near God´s mountain, i.e., having relationship with Him. If we have a similar situation, we need to camp at God´s mountain, that way we will recover our family; God will send His Spirit to lead us and help us to continue until we achieve a complete restoration. In Gn 20:3 SRV we can see how Abraham said to Abimelech that Sarah was his sister, and as a result he took her. This shows how Abraham and Sarah agreed in this and how it caused them serious conflicts. Then we see how God intervened to prevent Abimelech from taking Sarah as his wife, He showed him through dreams that Abraham and Sarah were spouses, therefore Abimelech returns Sarah. Regrettably, in many marriages the
husband treats his wife as his sister, this causes distancing and in some cases the intimate relationship disappears, therefore, doors are opened to sexual temptations. Within every marriage there has to be trust and intimacy. On the other hand, we have to stablish clear parents-children relationships, maintaining the authority and respect. We must understand that in order to be respected, we need to be good providers in our home. It is important to show love for our spouse and children, and to give to each member the rightful place. As a basic element needed to recover our home, there must be mercy in our hearts. In the passage of Hos 3:1-2 LBLA, it is described how Hosea showed mercy toward the adulteress. The Scriptures also talk about Rizpah, when she took care of the bodies of her children, not allowing the birds nor the beasts to eat them; this shows she had a merciful heart (II Sam 21:10). Mercy is needed to forgive and overcome sins committed at home. In Gn 30:16 LBLA, we read how Leah dispossessed herself from shame to recover her home. One of the things that can harm our marriage is the lack of sexual intimacy, that is the case when one spouse is constantly refusing the other. God is also interested in restoring the parents-children relationship as we see in the parable of the lost son in Lk 15:18 LBLA. In this particular case, the son returns repentant, asking for forgiveness of his sins; the father with much love is willing to restore the relationship with his son. Again, forgiveness is vital for family restoration, such is the case of Joseph and his brethren, Gn 45:1 LBLA. Sometimes it is necessary to cry to set ourselves free from those harmful feelings, which is exactly what happened to Joseph when he forgave his brothers. We also read in I Ki 3:27 LBLA how a mother recovered his son, thanks to the wisdom that God gave Salomon. The passage teaches us how love makes possible for a mother to recover her son, having in mind his welfare before than hers. Let us camp near the mountain of the Lord and let us put on humility, love, comprehension, mercy and forgiveness; by doing so, our homes will reach God´s salvation and restoration.
Translated by: Luis Fernando Ramírez
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