“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: Grace Without Desperation (October 19, 2018)
GraceNotes: Growing In Graciousness (October 12, 2018)
GraceNotes: Unmerited (October 5, 2018)
Gerald Kingbeil: The Numbers Game (October 2018)
Digging Deeper: The Judgment (October 2018)
What About The Environment? (October 2018)
GraceNotes: Unlimited (September 28, 2018)
Global View: Truth For Today (October 2018)
GraceNotes: Journey To Joy (September 21, 2018)
GraceNotes: The Hiddenness of Grace (September 14, 2018)
Journeys With Jesus: Feelings or Faith? (September 2018)
GraceNotes: More About Jesus (September 7, 2018)
Stephen Chavez: Seasoned and Lit (September 2018)
ViewPoint: Spirit-led (September 2018)
GraceNotes: Grace Awakenings (August 31, 2018)
Searching The Obvious - The Recital (September 2018)
Cliff's Edge: The Love of the Truth (September 2018)
Water: Facts, Fiction, and Fraud (September 2018)
Digging Deeper: Are The Dead Really Dead? (September 2018)
Global View: Every True Disciple a Missionary (September 2018)
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