There are times in life when sorrow lays us low: when our children are suffering, when we experience the death of a beloved one, as we watch our parents become frail and roles reverse, when a long-held dream must be surrendered for a new reality. The first major such experience requires us to find our way through with no maps, no easy path, no patent how-to, no one-size-fits-all solution.
But our God makes us unique. In Matthew we read, "Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted." In Ecclesiastics we read "There is a season....A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance." When Jesus' dear friend died and He encountered the grief of his beloved family and we learn, "Jesus wept." We have a God who allowed His own beloved Son to die for us.
This God reveals Himself to us as a compassionate God who is close to the brokenhearted; who saves those who spirits are crushed. (Psalms 34:18)
At the darkest times we can remember Matthew 9:22 when a woman reached out to touch Jesus because she believed He was able to heal her and this is what happened: Jesus turned and saw her, he said, “Be encouraged, daughter. Your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that time on.
So is it for us all.
O God of the broken and fragile, help me even when I am too overwhelmed to ask, when I can barely breathe, when my faith is hanging by a thread and I will, through the Spirit of God, cling to You forever with rejoicing. AMEN
But our God makes us unique. In Matthew we read, "Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted." In Ecclesiastics we read "There is a season....A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance." When Jesus' dear friend died and He encountered the grief of his beloved family and we learn, "Jesus wept." We have a God who allowed His own beloved Son to die for us.
This God reveals Himself to us as a compassionate God who is close to the brokenhearted; who saves those who spirits are crushed. (Psalms 34:18)
At the darkest times we can remember Matthew 9:22 when a woman reached out to touch Jesus because she believed He was able to heal her and this is what happened: Jesus turned and saw her, he said, “Be encouraged, daughter. Your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that time on.
So is it for us all.
O God of the broken and fragile, help me even when I am too overwhelmed to ask, when I can barely breathe, when my faith is hanging by a thread and I will, through the Spirit of God, cling to You forever with rejoicing. AMEN
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