Who Are You Hesitating with Relationally?
Who are you hesitating with relationally?
There’s a place in our lives we oftentimes hesitate. It’s in relationships.
There’s a place in our lives we oftentimes hesitate. It’s in relationships. For those of us who are older, we’ve lived the majority of our lives. Because of this, many of us have accumulated relational hurt and pain we may sense in the pathways of our minds, through our memories. We may also sense it in our hearts. The thing is, over time they provoke relational hesitation within us, whether we are aware of it or not. We stall. We drag our feet. We flounder. Intimacy, attachment, and enjoyment elude us. Yes, even enjoyment. How many relationships are you currently in that you enjoy? Where you feel like you can be yourself?
Who are you hesitating with relationally?
Then, there are those who are just starting out professionally. You’ve recently graduated from college or just entered the workforce. You’re venturing into all kinds of new relationships. One thing you’re finding is that being a young professional is much different than college life, especially in relationships. Perhaps the imbalance is leaving you feeling disoriented because you’re finding the expectations, cues, attachments, and enjoyment are quite different from college. So, you’re hesitating too. Stalling. Keeping others at arm’s length.
Who are you hesitating with relationally?
For me, as a young 22 year old, I took a job in a sector that I knew nothing about — politics. Not only was the culture completely unknown to me, but also my immediate supervisor was a chain- smoking alcoholic. Yes, I started working when smoking in office buildings was still a thing. I quickly realized I had to navigate a very perplexing professional relationship without any experience or knowledge of how to do it. So, I hesitated. I stalled relationally, often overcome by feelings of fear and shame. I wondered how a young adult was supposed to relate to someone like my supervisor. In my mind, I felt strained. Confused. Uncomfortable. I even felt shame, wondering if my supervisor’s behavior was somehow connected to me.
Relational hesitation isn’t anything new for human beings. It first shows up in Genesis 3. Fear and shame are present there too. These are all common human responses within any type of relationship.
Over the next several weeks, we’re going to explore this more. See how God initiates relationship with us. What He says to us about how our relational behavior not only impacts and influences us, but also everyone around us.
Contrary to popular belief, none of us is an island. We also don’t exist on this planet to conquer it for our own gain. The early story in Genesis unfolds a beautiful story of relational togetherness. Really of community. It’s here, in the good and the bad, we are going to discover more about ourselves relationally. And hopefully see how dragging our feet not only hurts us, but also others too.
