I can’t imagine any of us not having people in our lives with whom we were genuinely close, only to see that closeness destroyed by some outside force — a new job, a new relationship, something like that. It hurts, but what can you do?
Sometimes, the best thing you can do is quietly walk away — no need for dramatics or cheap melodrama. Someone no longer has time for you? Okay then. We are adults; we can take a hint and the hit. Let them be and take the hurt to our Lord for solace.
The latest episode of my Cephas Hour podcast talks about this and other topics. Because much of the music in this episode is unavailable on the usual streaming services, I’m not including links to the tunes. You can listen to the show on-demand at the podcast’s website (https://cephashour.com/2026/09/06/cephas-hour-episode-151-release-date-september-6-2026/) or wherever you get your podcasts, except Spotify.
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Hard to think I’ve recorded more of these shows — this is the 151st — than there are Psalms. If, through this podcast, I’ve offered one one-hundred and fiftieth of one-one hundred and fiftieth of one percent of the blessings that a single verse from a single Psalm offers humanity every day, I’m satisfied.
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I’ve been thinking a lot lately about forgiveness. I preface this by noting that whenever I pray about the matter, sooner or later it turns toward me and my asking God to make me the kind of man who has far more to forgive others for what they have done to me than I have for what I have done, requiring forgiveness from them of myself.
Jesus told Peter that he should forgive someone who has done him wrong not seven times, leaving the door open for pounding the offender should it happen for an eighth time, but seventy times seven. If you are keeping score to the point where you can tell the other person, “Only X number of chances until you reach 491, at which point I’m going to go Old Testament on you,” you’re focusing on the wrong thing.
I freely admit that I often struggle with forgiveness, be it of others or myself. I need to constantly remind myself that while I am, like everyone else, a sinner saved by grace, I am indeed saved and declared worthy of salvation by Jesus, Who paid the ultimate price to ensure that I might enjoy eternity with Him. Even as I have accepted the gift of forgiveness that is freely given but was bought with an unimaginable price, so I am called to forgive others freely. It is not an easy thing to do when it is someone you genuinely care for who has, as the Scripture says, lifted up their heel against you. But all of us still have to do our best, relying on God to be our source and strength.
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I’m quite fond of the saying, “If you’re too busy … yes you are.”
In the Gospel of Luke we find this story:
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed — or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Don’t be surprised if a once-close friend quietly walks away should you make yourself unavailable to them due to your new job, or a new relationship, or what have you. We all have busy moments requiring our full attention. None of us has that many of them.
We all need to find that switch inside us that, depending on which direction it is flipped, takes us out of work into humanity mode. A genuine “how are you” is far more valuable and ultimately productive than “do you have the spreadsheet ready,” or whatever tasks the workplace requires. No one should separate themselves from others due to a change in status or position. The only time we are called to pull away from someone is if the relationship is hindering our walk with Jesus. If it isn’t, where are you going?