Wrestling With The Present

Yesterday I was chatting with a good friend and we began to discuss how pervasive it is people who struggle with life.  So many are wrestling with depression, anger, despair, loneliness, pain, emptiness and the list goes on.  It began to dawn on us that what we were describing was simply the result of living in a world broken by sin, and even though we knew full well the love of Jesus and the impact His Holy Spirit has on our lives, we were still left feeling the weight of a broken world.

And then we started to talk about how much we longed to see Jesus face to face.  We talked about how amazing it will be when we live in a world where sin has no more influence; where there will be no more pain, no more sorrow, no more tears!!  And we knew that we really didn't have a frame of reference to genuinely understand the depth of this new reality except in contrast to the reality of how deeply broken things are now.  But we knew peace and hope as we talked about what will come!

Thinking about what God promises to bring about when Jesus returns has the power to raise one's heart in the here-and-now!

Take some time to consider Jesus who willingly came into our dark world and said this to His Father: "Here I am--it is written about me in the scroll--I have come to do your will, O God." (Heb 10:7)

Just think about this!  Hear the heart of Jesus that beats for you and is not against you.  Hear his words that are obedient and self-sacrificial to his Father who also loves you so much that he will go to absurd lengths to reach out and save you!

"Here I am. . ."  Do you ever remember a time when you were a little child, scared in your bedroom because you saw a menacing shadow lurking on your wall, and so you cried out to Mom or Dad, and when one came running and said "Don't worry, I'm here now"--do you remember how you felt?  That you were safe, that everything was going to be OK, that you were protected.  You didn't even think about how, Dad was going to protect you; you didn't question if he was going to protect you--you just knew that you were good now--everything was good.  Well, Jesus is just as real, and saying exactly the same thing right now---"I'm here now--I've got you."

My heart is overwhelmed with love for Him as I write this.  I can't express how grateful I am that He is here, even though I'm just like that little child that gets filled with fear. 

Thank you Jesus. . . .thank you so much!

BT