Then walked in…

 

The other day, we met a child who calls You Father. He shared his life story with us.
He came to tell us how You showed up at he nick of time. He touched our hearts with what he said.
We felt his brokenness, as he spoke of his childhood - of a home broken by an alcoholic father and a mother who protected him, his brothers and sisters at all costs. It broke our hearts, because he seemed so innocent. Standing there with his eyes closed… Behind those closed eyelids, I am certain, were tears as he recalled the pain of losing his mother.
He spoke of how he rand away from home several times to escape being beaten up by his drunk father. How he spend nights under a bus stand. Being homeless and in want of a mother’s love and being sent away to live in a boy’s home.
We heard the pain in his voice as it broke when he recalled the times, the other boys’ mothers would visit and he would think to himself… if only… amma was here for me.

His pain was so real as he relived chapter by chapter of his excruciating memories and then he said With a twinkle in his eyes, then … Jesus walked in. His voice broke when he introduced You to us. It was a deep, the appreciation which rose from the deepest place in his heart for You.

In the midst of his turmoil…
The chaos of the uncertain ,
The pain of reality…
In the darkened void of his lonely heart …
he said with profound joy
Then walked in… Jesus.

Signs of the times

My Jonathan for every season... my Jesus

“After David had finished talking with Saul, 
Jonathan became one in spirit with David, 
And he loved him as himself.”
1 Samuel 18:1


Walking home from church one afternoon, I thought deeply of the friendship between Jonathan and David and envied David for having such a strong bond with Jonathan. The sermon last Sunday painted a beautiful picture in my mind about the friendships. Jonathan was an enormous strength to David when Saul was jealously pursuing to harm David. Despite his father’s evil intentions, Jonathan was a loyal friend to David until the very end of Jonathan’s life. 

A few weeks before this sermon, my heart and mind were weighed down by a friendship which over a couple of incidents were proving to be something which dragged my heart down to the depths of the deepest blue. My mind was feeling the strain and in the end I thought better am I, an island unto myself, than having to deal with the disappointment of yet another friend who had grown indifferent towards ‘our’ friendship almost overnight. 

While drowning in self pity, thoughts flooded into my mind, one after another. I was reminded of the incidents in the past, of friendships which had blossomed in unlikely places, through difficult circumstances… through trials. 

People who had appeared by my side to walk the dark corridors of the storms which beat me down. People who had come to give a shoulder to cry on, to lean on, to hold me up and bring me to my feet. Endearingly I heard my Father speak, ‘haven’t you also had friends like Jonathan in your life? in every season have I not provided someone to stand beside you?’
 
And it was the truth, as I flipped from one page to another in the book called my life. In every place from the farthest memory in my mind, through every storm, there has been a friend closer than a brother and the One Who provided all of them and more...  Who has never caused me pain, heartache or disappointments – Who has been a lifelong Friend. My Jonathan for every season… my Jesus.  

Weeding out the weeds

I glory in the empty cross…

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.
Matthew 28:5, 6

I behold an empty cross far on a hillside. My heart does not weep for the Prophet whom the crowds say, died on that wretched cross centuries before my life was thought of. 

But my heart glories in my risen Lord. 

I look at the empty cross and reflect on the significance of what the empty cross means to me and I am overwhelmed with awe that God would consider me worthy to send His one righteous Child to die for me, to redeem the sinner I am. 

To give me salvation and eternity with Him, to give victory from my the things that chain me down, to give me healing in my wounds, to give me light when life cast its shadows over me, to walk with me through the corridors of every day life.
 
So I bow down before the Glorious One at the foot of the cross in complete adoration. In complete awe because this God whom I knew not, willingly sent His Son, to bear my sins, and die on a cross, so that I may have the privilege of knowing Him, live through Him, have a reason for life and a purpose to live.  

“There in the ground His body lay, light of the world by darkness slain… then bursting forth in glorious day up from the grave He rose again and as He stands in victory sin’s curse has lost its grip on me for I am His and He is mine bought with the precious blood of Christ.”

A prayer for today

Dear God

When I want to give up, encourage my heart to go further, to take another step. To persevere despite what is. Help me to focus on You God when the giants loom high above me. Encourage my heart even now to pursue the greater things in life. Do not move my obstacles Father, but give me the wisdom to face every single one as they come up ahead of me. Help me also to dwell on the things which stir your heart. For you are my Father and I am your child, You are my Shepherd and I will go wherever you lead me. Father In the places where I have put my hand on the plough, help me to remain committed. Refresh me. Rekindle the fire within my heart for your causes, for You. Whatever the terrain, I want to make it to the finish line. Help me walk forward. Give me strength in my heart to accomplish all things you have planned for me to, today. In your name Jesus, I ask. 

Amen

Goodbye is sometimes forever

Bigger than me