My Dear Friend,

Got family trouble? Go have a talk with Jesus. He knows all about it. When His ministry took off, His family took after Him to take Him back home - by force if necessary (Mark 3:21).

Strongly influenced by the opinion of their nation's foremost religious experts, namely, the Scribes official ruling that Jesus was satanically possessed (3:22), they (and possibly others in Nazareth) apparently concluded Jesus had suffered a mental breakdown of sorts and was out of His mind. (How this demented condition could have produced such divine messages and miracles is not clear, but that's what they concluded.) Thus prompted, they set out to "lay hold on him," or "take him away," if necessary, by force (3:21).

When Jesus' brothers, with Mary in tow, came to the house where He was teaching, Jesus immediately recognized their intent by a revelation of the Spirit. This is why He did not physically go out to meet them. Had He done so, they may have moved to apprehend Him, sparking a confrontation with His very zealous disciples. So, instead, Jesus sent Word inviting His earthly family to come and join His heavenly "family" that was gathered round Him to hear His Word (3:31-35).

This brief glimpse into Jesus' personal life reveals that for the three years He was about His Father's business, His family members remained distant, and some unfriendly (see John 7:1-5). What did He do? He kept doing God's will, left His temporal family in God's hands, and consoled Himself by fellowshiping with His eternal family - His heavenly Father and earthly friends and siblings in the faith. The outcome?

Eventually, when His work had run its course, the Father converted Jesus' earthly family and they joined His eternal family in the Upper Room, where they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and two of His brothers, James and Jude, went on to become dynamic leaders of the very movement they had once hoped to halt (Acts 1:14)! What should we learn from this?

If for a season your family is not friendly, let your (believing) friends be your family until your family is friendly again. That's the way our best Friend handled His family trouble.

So, today, forgive any family members who are unfriendly or even hateful toward you and pray for them daily. Meanwhile, embrace your eternal family members (believers) and faithfully go on in your walk and work with your eternal Father. And, finally, believe that, as He did with Jesus' family, He will one day lead your unfriendly relatives to their own Upper Room experience, after which you will enjoy full, sweet fellowship with them again.

Forgiving, embracing, believing,

Greg Hinnant
Greg Hinnant Ministries