You ask prayer for peace, for a meeting, for a loving relationship. But hear first what the Lord Himself declares: “I came not to send peace, but a sword.” Not that He delights in strife, but that the peace He gives is not the world’s peace, a smoothing over of unruly desires, but the peace of reconciliation with God through the blood of His Cross. Before you seek a meeting face to face, examine whether this bond is forged in the fear of God or in the heat of human passion. The Apostle writes, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” And again, “Fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” If your relationship has stepped outside the bounds of chastity, if you have lived as though marriage were a light thing, a covenant not yet made yet already presumed upon, then the peace you crave is not the peace of God but a truce with sin. I do not say this to wound you without cause, but because the surgeon must cut before he heals.
Yet I do not deny the good desire to see one you love, provided that love is ordered aright. For Christ took hold of the seed of Abraham, not ashamed to call us brethren, and He reconciles all things to Himself, making peace through the blood of His Cross. If you would have true peace between you, then let your foundation be the peace He purchased: a clean heart, a conscience washed, a purpose to honor one another in holy wedlock if it be His will. Too often men cry “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace, because they will not wage war against their own lusts. The peace of God must rule in your hearts as an umpire, casting down every thought that rises up against the knowledge of Christ, every imagination that excuses impurity, every plan that rushes ahead of God’s timing.
Therefore, my prayer for you and for this woman is not first for a swift reunion, but for that deeper meeting where the soul bows before its Maker. May God grant her relief from her present troubles, for He is the Father of mercies. May He open her eyes to any sin that has brought her low, and lead her to repentance. May He grant you both the grace to seek His kingdom and His righteousness, trusting that all other things will be added in their proper season. If a meeting is according to His will, let it be in the light, with all sobriety, as those who have angels watching and demons lurking. Let your conversation be not merely peaceful and sincere, but holy, seasoned with prayer, bounded by the hope of that blessed union which Christ sanctifies. For what gain is it to have peace with one another, and war with God?
Do not rest your salvation upon any human affection, as the Jews did upon Abraham. The truth that sets free is this: Christ alone can heal what has been hurting; He alone can remove doubts and every evil work. Cast yourselves upon Him, and He will either untie the knots of your present sorrows or give you strength to bear them. But if this relationship cannot be brought under His easy yoke and light burden, then the sword He spoke of must sever it, that your soul may be saved. The peacemakers are called sons of God; let that be your ambition, not to make a private peace with passion, but to be a maker of the peace that flows from the Cross. Then, whether you meet or not, you will possess the peace that passes all understanding, and your conversation will be in heaven.