The Good News

(this is kind of long)

Today, I just want to go somewhere... but where? will I go by myself?

I feel a deep longing for Jesus. I just really need Him. I need to be with Him. I need His help. I feel lost, ashamed, broken, lonely, needy... nothing new, really. This year, chaos feels almost normal. Sadly, sometimes it's to be expected. It's like I'm running from something and towards something else at the same time, but I don't know what from or what to... I think psychiatrists deal with people with minds like mine :) If people only knew...

See, that's the thing. I'm not sure people do know. Or does everyone else just walk around feeling chaotic all the time but nobody knows. Because that's messed up if it's true. But praise be to God for rescuing us from this detrimental state!

We don't have to be enslaved to chaos or lies or fear or depression. I don't get it at all, but one thing I do know is that God is bigger than anything I could ever make up and He is strong and He can fix me and make me whole. He knows how I was formed because He is the One who formed me. And His love for me is deep and rich and good. He understands how my mind works and He totally gets me! Completely!

Nothing I think surprises Him. I'm not messed up. He made me just the way that I am, and that, for His pleasure. and there is no shame in that, no shame. He's not sitting up on a throne somewhere pointing a finger at me and saying "I'm through with you". No, He believes in me and He has plans for me. He even puts obstacles in my path so that I'll pause and look up again and remember that looking at Him always makes life easier.

But, like a little child, I constantly have to be reminded of things, like that everything really is going to be okay, like I'm not stuck. There aren't inevitable things in life that are not capable of being subject to change. And God is bigger. He is bigger than my wildest hopes and dreams. He knows exactly how to get through to me and He will do everything it takes because He absolutely, totally, and completely loves me!

He's committed to me. He's not like people, who aren't permanent, but come and go as love becomes more difficult, more costly. He is willing to pay whatever the cost may be to make this relationship work. And His Name is Love.

He already paid the price it took, a price that can't be quantified; a deep price; a costly price; a price that cost Him everything. He could not have paid a higher price because there was and is no higher price. God is love and He demonstrated His own love for us in this, for me in this: that He sent His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not die but have life forever with Him. It's a forever deal, not a deal where He bails when we get hard to love. No! He's down in the pit with us, pushing us along, being the One who pulls us out and brings us to life. He is the One who sets captives free. He sets us free and gives us life. He teaches us life. We don't know how to live, but that's not the point. The point is Him.

The point is that He does know how to live. He does get it. He knows how to love because He is love. He is in us. Love is in us. So we can love.

We're really good at complicating matters, but God is really good at sorting things out. We're good at making messes, but He's good at cleaning them up. That's the Father we have. He's out advocate. He's our shield. He's always there for us, no matter what. He is the One we can completely lean on because He will hold us up. He's for real.

Other things look like they could hold us up. We even look at them and desire for them to hold us up, but that only leads to disappointment. I am realizing that this is true.

Nothing can support me but Christ.

People aren't constant. They aren't consistent. Relationships can be so unpredictable and you have to earn love and respect and friendship. People don't keep loving when you become hard to love, when you're wandering around, trying to figure out life and what you really need is security, but what you find is insecurity. So, you put your guard up and don't let people in and then slowly they stop letting you in and you find yourself alone, standing in the middle of a crowded room screaming, but nobody notices. What you thought would hold you up couldn't meet that expectation. That's the disappointment.

Then, you find one man in that room. You find Him when you stop and simply look at Him. And He looks at you as though He's been looking at you your whole life. And suddenly you are overtaken by a sense of peace that can't be described. You are so perplexed and so in love at the same time. You just want this man to hold you. And you think to yourself, "if He would just hold me, that would be everything I need". And He picks you up in His arms and you lay against His chest where you can feel His heartbeat and it takes your breath away. Because this man is real. And this man heard you when nobody else understood your need. He knew it without you even asking. All you did was look at Him and He whispered in your ear, "it's okay".

For the first time in your life, you knew it was true. You didn't understand it. You were still a person, living your life, but the chaos faded into the backdrop when you were with this man. You knew He would take care of you and meet all of your needs. He wasn't going anywhere, not without you. His face was the purest face you had ever seen. And when you were with Him, you were alive.

This is our God. He is in love with broken people and when those people encounter Him, they become whole. Brokenness is restored in His presence. Darkness vanishes. Love is real because He is real. And that is all that really matters. Him. We can know Him.

God is in love with us and we can be in love with Him. O the simplicity of that thought. And the best part is that it isn't a thought. It's a reality. It's your reality and mine. Chaos vanishes because God steps into the scene. As He invaded this messed up world, He brought peace that we had never known before and love and life and Shalom. That's the good news. That's the gospel. He is the good news. Amen.