Please Don't Leave Me

Psalm 119

Working at a high school gives me multiple opportunities to talk with young men and women about relationships. For the most part the relationships I see on a daily basis are good; they talk, cuddle, play, laugh. I can also say how impressed I am with these couples in the way they are able to work through any problems that might come up. Most of the teenagers at my school are open and honest with each other, and when they cant's resolve their problems they have friends who are willing to help.

Once in a while there will be a problem so divisive that nothing can bring the couple back together. Usually it's because one of them has fooled around or cheated on the other. It would seem that the rules of the relationships I see are few, mostly it's mutual respect and they can have friends, just as long as they don't have or do anything more.

I have to say that on the occasion the couples do break up it's usually because either a)someone fooled around, or b)the girl sees no future in the boy. Sorry, guys, but as girls get older they really do want someone who can support them in their endeavors, not someone who's good at Grand Theft Auto or Madden. To a woman, the relationship eventually becomes more than "he makes me smile and I feel good around him."

I would say that in 90% of those break ups the boy says, "I will change, I promise, just don't leave me." Almost never, though, does the boy change. I mean, they do for a little while, and the girl does take them back, but the relationship falls back into the same routines and the girl leaves again.

One thing I've learned in life is that if someone doesn't change for themselves, the change won't stick. Maybe this is what our Psalmist is going through. The last line of today's passage has the Psalmist begging God to not leave him. If we read the rest of this Psalm we'll hear the voice of someone who really wants to change. The Psalmist cries out to God to teach him, to show him what is expected. This Psalm is a plea from someone who really wants to change, and wants God's help in doing so.

Are there relationships you need to reconcile? What is it that you need to change in order to heal that relationship? How is it that those around you and God can help?

Don't be afraid of change, change for the right reasons is a good thing. Change isn't easy, but there are so many people who want to be there for you, all you need to do is let them in.