Can a vicious cycle be broken? Can a broken circle of friends be unbroken? Which is easier: breaking out of an addiction or healing a broken relationship?  Jesus once posed the question (Mark 2:9):

“Which is easier, to say to the paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and take your mat and walk’?”

Is it easier for Jesus to heal a man or to forgive his sins?  – In fact, in the eyes of God, healing a broken life, a broken body, a broken relationship comes with the forgiveness of sins. So, probably the answer to this question would be a “yes”. One is just as easy or difficult as the other. The two problems are really one and the same; and the moment the burden of sin is lifted from us, we get unstuck.

Since “sin” has become a somewhat loaded word, let’s put it this way: Stuck in our own selfish ways, subjected to a dictator called “ego”, Jesus speaks into this situation saying (John 8:36):

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

Everybody subconsciously or consciously yearns to be free. We don’t want to be bound to repeat yesterday’s failures. Nobody wants to capitalize on making big mistakes. Physically we’re all fighting an uphill battle witnessing our bodies deteriorate as we age, and eventually we die. God’s salvation addresses all of these issues; however, the key to salvation is our belief – whether or not we accept the way how God chose to redeem us: He chose to redeem us through His Son. In the gospel of John we read (John 1:12-13):

“To all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.”

In the end, our broken family ties with our Heavenly Father will be unbroken. We will be as tight with Him as we ever were; as tight as in the beginning, when Adam walked with God in the Garden of Eden. And maybe, just maybe, after all that we have been through, the terrifying separation, the isolation, the brokenness, the pain, and subsequently, God’s amazing interventions – who knows, we might be even closer to Him than we were before? What a prospect!

“Will the circle be unbroken by and by, Lord, by and by? There’s a better home a-waiting in the sky, Lord, in the sky!” (Ada R. Habershon)