February 2020 – when it hurts

“Let everything happen to you

Beauty and terror

Just keep going

No feeling is final”

-Rilke

No feeling is final.

Our lives are filled with beauty and terror, joy and sorrow.

Some of us have more joy. Some of us have more sorrow.

Yet, those feelings are not final.

We can be sure that when we breathe our last breath, there is more.

Christianity gives us the promise of eternity with God. God created eternity. God put it in our hearts.

He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

We have emotions. Those feelings can overtake us and hide the truth from us. When you are ready, when you are able, step away from feelings, even for just a moment, and the truth will be illuminated.

Truth is what holds us up. It is the foundation of all things.

Jesus had emotions. He felt what we feel.

Joy at pleasing his Father.

Exhaustion through ministering to people.

Anger at the prideful, religious leaders and the money changers and merchants selling livestock and doves in the temple.

Peace through accepting God’s will.

Love for the rich, young ruler, his disciples, Mary, Martha, Lazarus, and the whole world.

Sorrow, grief, and agony of the impending suffering he would experience on the cross.

Yet, the Bible says He endured the cross because of the joy waiting for Him: the promise of what is true, the promise of eternity, and the promise of making a way for eternity to be ours, too.

Truth says, the last feeling is this: everlasting joy. The joy Jesus felt when he accepted beauty and terror.

The joy Jesus felt because He knew – no feeling here on earth is final.

path

Slowly, her eyes open as she lays silently, watching the light slip through the window, turning the night darkness into shadows of gray.

Another day to face. Another day to be thankful. Another day to trust the Lord.

Reaching for her phone, she sighs softly. She is familiar with facing the day with disappointments.

No texts. Check the weather. Open Facebook.

Inspiring memes, adorable animal videos, current events, and everyone’s opinions.

But it’s the “perfect” children and “perfect” marriages her eyes are drawn to.

And then the familiar heaviness in the pit of her stomach.

Being left out, being left behind, being different.

~~~

Those among us, especially Christians, who often post their happy lives on social media, should remember those who are in difficult situations.

We know who they are.

With good intentions, we celebrate our lives. Pictures speak a thousand words. Words have power. In our sharing, we should remember those we know who are suffering.

Since God says he is near to those who have broken hearts, shouldn’t they be close to our hearts, too?

Just about everyone has some form of social media. As Christians, we should check our heart when we share something. We could become prideful in our accomplishments and project our way of doing things as being the right way.

Sometimes, we should say your life might be different. Be you.

Everyone should celebrate with you, be encouraged and inspired by you, and most of all, be happy for you.

But we should also, always keep others close in our hearts and minds when we share our lives.

~~~

And you, who are not experiencing the preconceived perfect life, take heart.

Be happy for those who are enjoying good. Rejoice with them.

Don’t compare.

Don’t get bitter.

If it’s too hard to see, limit your friends’ list through unfollowing or create a smaller social media platform with limited friends during this time in your life.

It’s not all on you. You are protecting yourself.

More than anything, trust in the Lord with all of your heart, don’t interpret your life through your own understanding of it, acknowledge God’s understanding of it all, and trust that He knows all things and will guide and direct your life.

When you trust God, He trusts you, too. He knows who can and who will carry the light through the darkness of disappointments you face each day …

… to show others the way.