“If you would tell me, tell me true,” a wise old man once said. “There isn’t time enough for lies.”
And when we’ve polished all our trophies, and sung again our victory songs, we come at last to stories too painful to be false. Each honest story unwraps our wounds, our hurts—as well as those we’ve given.
We grieve the loved ones whom we’ve lost—a spouse; a friend; a much-loved child—though some of them still live and breathe. We mourn the loss of innocence; we’ve soaked up toxic sums of greed. We laugh at violence and war; we cheer for “heroes” who display our poorest human qualities. We feel the sadness for what’s never fixed or mended or repaired.
And so it’s not an accident that we know more of Jesus as a healer than any other role. He stepped into the broken story of our world with grace that made the lepers dance and unlocked tongues that never spoke. He gave the parents back lost children; He cast out evil spirits and refashioned sin-sick attitudes. He told us of a Father who kindly waits for us to finish playing prodigal.
And when He died to heal us of our greatest hurt, He took our pain and made it His. “He was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the punishment that made us whole, and by His bruises we are healed” (Isa 53:5-6).
The good news is that grace still heals. It closes wounds; it soothes our scars. And someday soon, it leads us home.
So stay in grace. -Bill Knott
GraceNotes: Morning Has Broken (March 29, 2019)
GraceNotes: Outside and Above (March 22, 2019)
GraceNotes: Grace Becomes Us (March 15, 2019)
Marvene Thorpe-Baptiste, An Accidental Witness (March 2019)
Journeys With Jesus: The Dreaded Diagnosis (March 2019)
GraceNotes: Always Amazing (March 8, 2019)
GraceNotes: All Are Gifted (March 1, 2019)
GraceNotes: Grace Has A Face (Feb 22, 2019)
GraceNotes: Freely Received and Gladly Given (Feb 15, 2019)
GraceNotes: New and Better Stories (Feb 8, 2019)
Lael Caesar: Races (Feb 2019)
GraceNotes: Healed—And Healed Again (Feb 1, 2019)
GraceNotes: What It Means To Be Held (Jan 25, 2019)
GraceNotes: The Work of Faith (Jan 18, 2019)
GraceNotes: Costly Grace (Jan 11, 2019)
GraceNotes: The Chain of Grace (Jan 4, 2019)
Searching The Obvious: Trust The Path (January 2019)
Cliff's Edge: Fascinating, Thrilling, Hopeful, Yet Fearful (January 2019)
GraceNotes: A Grace-Filled Resolution (December 28, 2018)
Bill Knott: A Kite, A String, And a Bridge
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