It Looked Fixed...But It Wasn't Healed

Some relationships don’t break with a bang. They break with silence, polite distance, and the quiet agreement to “move on” without ever telling the truth. That’s the ache behind 2 Samuel 14 and 15, where David lets Absalom return home, yet keeps him from his presence. Everything looks settled from the outside, but nothing is healed underneath and the consequences don’t stay small for long. 

I connect David and Absalom’s story to a real-life moment many of us recognize: a relationship that seems repaired because the tension eases, but the root never gets named. We talk about why a warm moment isn’t the same as reconciliation, how bitterness grows where truth is avoided, and what “partial restoration” can cost over time. If you’ve ever been close to someone in proximity but far in connection, this devotional is for you. 

If you’re craving real healing in relationships, Christian encouragement, and a Bible-based devotional on forgiveness, reconciliation, and discernment, press play. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs this, and leave a review so more hearts can find these weekly devotions.

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Transcript

Welcome And Devotional Setup

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Hello, hello. You're listening to the Jesse Morgan Devotions for the Christian Heart Podcast episode 102. This week's devotional is titled, It Look Fixed, But It Wasn't Healed. Continuing our study of David, let's go. Hi, I'm Jesse Morgan. I used to just share home decor and renovation tips on social media, but now I'm sharing something even closer to my heart. My journey in love for Jesus Christ, my Savior. Welcome to the Jesse Morgan Devotions for the Christian Hawk Podcast. This is a weekly devotional I started back in May 2024, but the inspiration for it came much earlier. It was rooted in a faith journey that began when my daughter was born four months early in 2023. Through that challenging time, God worked in ways that truly amazed me. On this podcast, I share personal stories of faith woven together with Scripture to show just how incredible God's word can be in our everyday lives. My hope is that through these stories, you'll be encouraged, uplifted, and reminded of God's love and presence, no matter what you're going through. So I invite you to spend less than 15 minutes with me each week as we reflect on these devotionals together. Let's all pray within. Continuing our study of David, episode 102. It looked fixed, but it wasn't healed. Key passages, 2 Samuel 14 and 15. Hey everyone, welcome back to the podcast. I was off last week and I'm back, ready to go, and ready to um conclude this uh study of David in the next couple of weeks. So here we go. Today we're diving into 2 Samuel chapters 14 and 15. And this is one of those passages that feels like a slow unraveling. We're talking about broken relationships, surface level reconciliation, and what happens when things look okay on the outside, but underneath they're not healed at all. And if you've ever had a relationship where things seem fine, but deep down they really weren't, this one is gonna hit pretty hard. So let's set the stage. Starting with chapter 14. Absalon, David's son, had fled after killing his brother. There's been distance, silence, tension, you name it. Then eventually, through Joab, who is David's right hand, Absalon is allowed to return to Jerusalem. But here's the part we cannot miss. In 2 Samuel 14, 24, it says, But the king said, Let him go to his own house. He must not see my face. So Absalon went to his own house and did not see the face of the king. For two full years, Absalon is back, but there is no relationship between him and King David. For two years, he didn't see his father. So Absalon is close in proximity, but distant in connection to David. And this is what I would call partial restoration. Outwardly, everything looks resolved. He's home, he's back, but inwardly, there's no healing, no conversation, no reconciliation. And I think some of us have lived here before where things are fine, but they're not whole. And actually, this is interesting because I want to bring back a story I shared with you all about two weeks ago. Do you remember when I told you about the girl I went to high school with, the one who never liked me? Um, we were in the same circle, same team, same school, but she was ne she just never really liked me. She wasn't kind to me at all. All the, you know, mostly there was always tension. There was a little bit of talking behind my back, just never really cool with me. And then fast forward 10 years later, she shows up, asked my mom for a recommendation letter for her master's program for her character. That girl. I'm talking about the same person today. So, anyways, and what's so interesting is when I look back, there was actually a moment where we tried to fix things per se. Senior year, my senior year in high school, we had something that we called senior camp. It was this big tradition, three or four days away, bonding, growing in our faith, setting the tone for our last year before we entered the real world. And then, and and there was this moment or this time during senior camp called the circle. All the girls would sit together and it was a time to make things right. If you had an issue with someone, there was your moment to address it, to forgive, to move forward, etc. And I'll never forget, she came up to me in tears and she said, Jess, I want to make things right. I want us to be friends. I really want us to work through our differences. And I remember being so surprised, but also, you know, relieved and open. I was okay, I was like, okay, yeah, let's do this. And for a little while, it looked like it was working. We were sitting together at lunch, we were talking, we were getting along, but deep down, something still felt off because we never actually talked about anything. And we never addressed the tension, we never had hard conversations, we never got to the root of it. And I remember even just a couple of months and thinking to myself, okay, but when are we actually gonna talk about this? Like, I really would like to know why she doesn't like me. What did I do? Like, I was waiting for that moment where we would really clear the air. I kept contemplating, okay, maybe I did something when I was in eighth grade. Like, I didn't know, I was waiting for that, and it never came. And as time went on, things slowly started to slip back. Little attitudes, distance again, subtle tension. We weren't bad, but we weren't real either. And after we graduated, we never spoke again. And to this day, I still don't know what the issue was ever. And that's why this story with David and Absalom hits so deeply. Because eventually, yes, David does see Absalon again. There's a moment where it looks like reconciliation, but nothing was ever truly dealt with. A moment of affection is not the same as healed relationship and conversation. And then we move into chapter 15 and we see the consequences of that. Absalom starts positioning himself, he builds influence, gains attention, and then he does something very subtle. He meets people at the city gate, the place where people would come for justice, and he tells them, You're right, your cases matter, but no one is here to hear you. And then Scripture says this in 2 Samuel 15, 6. So Absalon stole the hearts of the men of Israel. He didn't take the kingdom by force at first, he took it slowly through influence, through words, through making people feel seen while quietly undermining the king. And I think there's a warning here for all of us. Not everyone who listens to you is for you. Not everyone who agrees with you is aligned with you. In fact, some people validate you just to gain your trust. Some people position themselves through your vulnerability. And what started as unresolved tension in Absalom's heart eventually turned into full-blown rebellion against his father. And then what's so sad, and just knowing how I've just been studying the book of, you know, the story of David, and the next thing you know, it when David hears about Absalom's rebellion, what does he do? He flees. A father running from his own son, and what we're seeing unfold is this unresolved wounds turned into rebellion, silence turned into division, and surface level peace and reconciliation turned into deep brokenness and bitterness. So what do we take from this? First, I would say partial healing leads to deeper brokenness. If something is only half fixed, it's not fixed. God doesn't do surface level, you know, restoration. He heals fully, but we have to be willing to have the hard conversations. And number two, bitterness grows where truth is avoided. When things go unspoken, they don't disappear, they just grow. Resentment grows. Third, we need discernment. Because not everyone who appears supportive is truly for you. And finally, God is still working, even in messy situations. Even here in this dysfunctional betrayal, God's plan is not over for David. And I want you to hear this. Just because something looks like it's falling apart doesn't mean God has lost control. And as you go about, you know, your week, I want you to sit with this. And I had to as well. Is there anything in your life that looks healed but isn't whole? Bring that to God. Because He doesn't just restore what people can see, He restores what's underneath. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for seeing what's beneath the surface. If there are areas in my life or in anybody listening to this podcast life that needs to be healed, please reveal it to them. Give them the courage to face hard things and the wisdom to seek true healing. Guard our hearts, Lord, from bitterness and remind us that you are in control always. Father, we thank you so much for the study of David. We love you and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. Love you all. Till next time. Well that wraps up this week's episode. I hope these devotions help you draw closer to God each day. If this episode encouraged you, please share it with someone who might need the same message. And don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a weekly episode. Also, if you feek if you feel compelled, leaving a nice review would be so appreciated as well. For more information or to reach out, check the show notes or visit jessymorganhome.com or find me on Instagram at JessimorganLife. Remember, God's timing is always perfect. Keep trusting him. Until next time, this is Jesse Morgan praying off. Jesse Morgan Devotions behind the scenes starting right now. I wanted to come on and just really focus in on. I felt like I just really like God was talking to me a bit, and I just wanted to share this and for a little bit. And you know, as we go back into chapter 15 of 2nd Samuel, we know that Absalon is building a rebellion against his father to take over the throne. And what always struck me was that the first reaction out of David was he fled. And it's just so ironic because the beginning of David's story, he's fleeing from a king, he's fleeing from Saul. And we know how much that took a toll on David having to run and not understand why he's being pursued. And what's interesting is this time he's fleeing, being pursued, but he knows why. But the interesting part about the fleeing portion of it that I wanted to discuss was, you know, why? Like he knew that obviously Absalom is trying to kill him to take the throne, but what else did the fleeing mean? And I really had to sit with that, and I realized that David was still living in the guilt of his sin, living in the guilt of Uriah with Bathsheba, living in the guilt of not addressing Tamar and her assault, and living with that guilt of realizing that since he didn't, you know, address the Tamar situation, that his oldest son, who was the heir to the throne, has is now is you know was killed by his other son. And David knows that because of his actions, these are the consequences. And it's like he he accepted it and he's like, I have to deal with this, and I'm just gonna flee. And that's his answer of dealing with it. And that was just so interesting to me because he's a warrior king, he's the most powerful king in the history of Israel. Like, really, let's call it what it was. Him and obviously probably Solomon, and of course Jesus Christ. We know this, but David was the first, the first real king chosen by God, and he flees. And just look what guilt can do to you when you're going through tough times. And the thing about it is, us as Christians, if we have already gone to God, asked for forgiveness, and God forgave you for that sin, why are we still holding on to the guilt? And that's what we do as people. We hold on to it, and then we think all the bad things that are going on, it's like, okay, I deserve it. I just got, you know, I have to just deal with it, I gotta just flee, you know, I gotta just remove myself. I can't try to fix it, I can't try to um protect my reputation, protect what's mine because I messed up anyway. It's on me. And so the thing about it is when you're when you're we have that mentality, you're taking on the consequence by yourself versus relying on God to get you through it. And when we don't do that, we flee. And it just hit me today with that. And I just encourage you, you're going through something. You know you made a mistake. Maybe the situation's happening because some of the actions you did, and you immediately think, well, I have to just deal with it. It's my fault. I have to suffer in it. No, you don't. No, you don't. You made a mistake, God forgave you. Now it's time to move forward. Now it's time to, you know, repent, yes, but it's also time for you to seek God, seek out that wisdom and make the right decision, the next best mood. And it's not to flee. And I just encourage you, you're going through a tough relationship, an abusive relationship, a horrible working experience, a bad breakup, family trauma, all these things. Yes, maybe you were part of it, maybe you were some of the reasons things went the way they went, but if God has forgiven you, you need to forgive yourself. And you gotta give yourself some grace, and you gotta get on your knees, ask for God to give you the right direction of where to go, seek out that wisdom, and move forward. And I I just encourage you to do that. Don't flee. Don't do what David's doing. David is fleeing with all that guilt versus moving forward with restoration. So I just wanted to come on here and encourage you. I just felt like I needed to do that. So love you all. Until next time. God bless.