Dear God,
How could it be possible that after years of reading my bible ... at church this Sunday I heard this verse for the first time ... or maybe my ears and understanding finally let me hear it. Thank you for sharing this revelation at church ... you are the best.
Sometimes when we do the right thing but feel bad because people react in a way that is uncomfortable ... it is good to remember that this will pass ... the uncomfortable will fade and the time will show a a new way forward.
I know I distressed you greatly with my letter. Although I felt awful at the time, I don't feel at all bad now that I see how it turned out. The letter upset you, but only for a while. Now I'm glad—not that you were upset, but that you were jarred into turning things around. You let the distress bring you to God, not drive you from him. The result was all gain, no loss.
Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain. But those who let distress drive them away from God are full of regrets, end up on a deathbed of regrets.
And now, isn't it wonderful all the ways in which this distress has goaded you closer to God? You're more alive, more concerned, more sensitive, more reverent, more human, more passionate, more responsible. Looked at from any angle, you've come out of this with purity of heart. And that is what I was hoping for in the first place when I wrote the letter. My primary concern was not for the one who did the wrong or even the one wronged, but for you—that you would realize and act upon the deep, deep ties between us before God. That's what happened—and we felt just great.
2 Corinthians 7:8-11
Love ya always
Teena
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