I didn’t post Friday- needed a ‘personal’ day. It happens every so often.We were headed to the park one evening as a perfect day drew to a close. Before we got off the property, though, my son got in trouble. He’d ignored his dad’s instructions about riding his bicycle near the street. So after a short confrontation, we headed back to the house and he got sent to bed.

Isaiah says ‘your iniquities have separated you from your God and your sins have hidden His face from you’. That verse crystallized for me in those moments. Here was the son, separated from the father because he had transgressed the father’s counsel. Sin divides families. It hurts innocent people. My daughters were robbed of a trip to the park, but hadn’t done anything wrong. The rule was for my son’s protection, and although he understood that, he thought it was no big deal to skirt it. Then he’s very good at playing the remorseful penitent.

I’ve done the very same things myself. Often I even whine that God isn’t listening without even realizing I’ve been ‘sent to my room’. Thank God that ‘His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life’. While the separation is temporary, the relationship is unbreakable.