this blog post has been floating around in my head for awhile. my word for the year has been "the written word." it's a bit of a different approach, but here are my goals: write by hand, send hand written notes , read books, dig into scripture , journal. its been beautiful and since writing has always been a love of mine, fulfilling.
this quest has forced me to also listen to words more. to really listen to them.
it is no secret that i'm a lover of pop culture. some may say it's anti-christian, but i work with kids, preteens and teens. and i have teens. since my own kids are immersed in it daily i like to keep myself current.
it is also no secret i'm a lover of music.
it is also no secret (hopefully) that i'm a lover of my Jesus and following Him.
on a rare occasion there is this brilliant moment when those three loves converge and form something that cracks my heart so deeply that it leaves a permanent piercing. here is one such moment:
i was driving along singing to stand by you by rachel platten* one day while my heart was aching for a couple of dear friends. i'd been praying about how to help them. then it's like i heard the chorus for the first time:
Even if we're breaking down, we can find a way to break through
Even if we can't find heaven, I'll walk through Hell with you
Love, you're not alone, 'cause I'm gonna stand by you
Even if we can't find heaven, I'm gonna stand by you
Even if we can't find heaven, I'll walk through Hell with you
Love, you're not alone, 'cause I'm gonna stand by you
this is the line that gets me:
even if we can't find heaven, i'll walk through hell with you.
wow. read it again. slow down and really read it.
i'd been just reading the story of lazarus and begging God to bring healing to a dear friend. i was begging Him to call her out of the tomb of pain and unwrap the binding. i was begging God to help another friend walk away from the hell she's put herself in. i was begging God to let my blessings kids know how deeply they are loved by Him.
here's the thing. there is literal hell and there is figurative hell on earth for people. as a believer i long to see people set free from their hell on earth; their despair, their pain, their loneliness, their poor choices, their fear. i also long for people to be set free from literal hell and give their lives to Jesus.
here's the other thing: i CAN'T do any of that. i can't set people free. only the Holy Spirit can. but just like i was reading in the story of Lazarus and in so many other glimpses of Jesus in the gospels, He was willing to walk into their hell on earth and sit with them in the mess. He didn't always provide healing on earth. He even let Lazarus die. He would sit with them, grieve with them, love them. He looked them in the eye and said "I"m here for you..."
as a believer, I know that Jesus also descended into literal hell for me. for you. for the entire world. He went there to pay the price for me. He went there to pay the price for people that will ultimately reject him.
Really? He was willing to sit in people's literal hell and hell on earth knowing some would reject Him? Crazy, if you ask me! But Jesus also makes it very clear that we are to live like him. In fact in John 17:18 Jesus says, "As you (God) have sent me (Jesus) into the world, so I have sent them (US) into the world.
Because of Jesus death i will not ever have to go to literal hell, but i am called to sit with people in their hell on earth. this is hard. oh so hard. it's easier to say, "i tried. they didn't want my help. they weren't changing. i give up," than it is to continue to walk through their hell with them. yet, i am called to do just that, walk through their hell with them as long as it takes - even if they never find Heaven!
so i continue to beg God for those people. i continue to serve the blessings kids with love that runs deeper than i ever imagined. i continue to to do my best to not give up on them. i do my best to be the friend that Jesus was. and i'm incredibly thankful for those that have walked through my times of hell on earth with me. for they truly held me through it. and i pray that God will help me to go where love is needed...
*yes, i know the song is not at all about Jesus, but again, Jesus used pop culture of His day to speak His truth. i believe He still does.
this is the line that gets me:
even if we can't find heaven, i'll walk through hell with you.
wow. read it again. slow down and really read it.
i'd been just reading the story of lazarus and begging God to bring healing to a dear friend. i was begging Him to call her out of the tomb of pain and unwrap the binding. i was begging God to help another friend walk away from the hell she's put herself in. i was begging God to let my blessings kids know how deeply they are loved by Him.
here's the thing. there is literal hell and there is figurative hell on earth for people. as a believer i long to see people set free from their hell on earth; their despair, their pain, their loneliness, their poor choices, their fear. i also long for people to be set free from literal hell and give their lives to Jesus.
here's the other thing: i CAN'T do any of that. i can't set people free. only the Holy Spirit can. but just like i was reading in the story of Lazarus and in so many other glimpses of Jesus in the gospels, He was willing to walk into their hell on earth and sit with them in the mess. He didn't always provide healing on earth. He even let Lazarus die. He would sit with them, grieve with them, love them. He looked them in the eye and said "I"m here for you..."
as a believer, I know that Jesus also descended into literal hell for me. for you. for the entire world. He went there to pay the price for me. He went there to pay the price for people that will ultimately reject him.
Really? He was willing to sit in people's literal hell and hell on earth knowing some would reject Him? Crazy, if you ask me! But Jesus also makes it very clear that we are to live like him. In fact in John 17:18 Jesus says, "As you (God) have sent me (Jesus) into the world, so I have sent them (US) into the world.
Because of Jesus death i will not ever have to go to literal hell, but i am called to sit with people in their hell on earth. this is hard. oh so hard. it's easier to say, "i tried. they didn't want my help. they weren't changing. i give up," than it is to continue to walk through their hell with them. yet, i am called to do just that, walk through their hell with them as long as it takes - even if they never find Heaven!
so i continue to beg God for those people. i continue to serve the blessings kids with love that runs deeper than i ever imagined. i continue to to do my best to not give up on them. i do my best to be the friend that Jesus was. and i'm incredibly thankful for those that have walked through my times of hell on earth with me. for they truly held me through it. and i pray that God will help me to go where love is needed...
*yes, i know the song is not at all about Jesus, but again, Jesus used pop culture of His day to speak His truth. i believe He still does.
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