God is With You
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit. – Psalm 34:18
There’s a sadness about him. He’s solemn. The twinkle
is gone from his eyes. His heart has learned what his mind always knew: The
things of this world are only temporary. Only God is forever.
The things I always thought would be there are gone,
he told me. Hurricane Michael showed no compassion, no sympathy, no mercy as it
attacked. It was gone within hours of the initial onslaught. The scars – both on
the land and the people who live there – will last forever.
How do you even begin to heal? There’s nothing to
rebuild. It’s all rubble and fallen trees. Everywhere you look is devastation.
It’s hard to make out where specific landmarks once stood. It’s just that bad.
And then, as you struggle to cope with what has
happened, you hear that three linemen have died. They were mowed down by a man
now charged with DUI. They were doing something good. They were working to
restore power to people who have been without for more than two weeks. They
were helping others and they died because of it.
How does it all make sense? We know that God will turn
all things to our good and His glory if we’ll just turn it over to Him. But it’s
hard to see good right now. It’s difficult to believe anything could ever be
alright again. The weight of all that’s happened causes a burden in our souls.
I wonder how God felt when Jesus hung on the cross. It
was necessary to save us but have you ever considered what it cost Him? That
was His Son! And think about Jesus. He knew what was coming. He agonized over
it. He pleaded for another way even as He surrendered His will to God the
Father.
And, yet, we tell ourselves God doesn’t understand. We
demand that Jesus fix what is broken on the outside, brushing past His offer to
fix what is broken on the inside.
That’s where the healing begins. It’s on the inside.
It’s choosing to look at the good in something that is too awful to bear. It’s
that flicker of hope that lets light into the darkness.
It’s noticing how people are coming together to help
those in need. It’s remembering what’s important in life. It’s noticing the
beautiful sunrise or the healing touch of a gentle rain.
It’s remembering that no matter how alone we might
feel, God never leaves us alone. It’s knowing that when we don’t know the way,
God is right beside us telling us which way to go. It’s believing that even
though we don’t know how life will ever be okay again, God has promised to provide
good things for us.
Deep sadness changes us. We become stronger, our roots
of faith, growing deeper into the strength of His Presence. But we are never
the same.
My dear friend will one day be happy again. He will
smile. His laughter and dry wit will return. But he’ll carry the sorrow of
today deep inside. That’s where compassion takes root. In the years to come, he’ll
understand the agony of someone else’s pain and he’ll be able to reach out in
empathy. It’s the good that comes from the bad.
I don’t know your story but I do know this: God is
with you, no matter where you are or what you’re going through. When everything
else collapses around you, count on that. God will never let you down.
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