“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
House Call: From Parent To Child (August 2018)
Wilona Karimabadi: Remember (August 2018)
GraceNotes: In Full (August 3, 2018)
Digging Deeper: Deception (August 2018)
GraceNotes: All of Grace (July 27, 2018)
GraceNotes: Glorious Exception (July 20, 2018)
GraceNotes: The Reach of Grace (July 13, 2018)
Digging Deeper: The Trinity (July 2018)
GraceNotes: A Victory For Grace (July 6, 2018)
Cliff's Edge: The Apocalyptic Monsters Category (July 2018)
Lael Caesar: For Peace? (July 2018)
Searching The Obvious: Standing Ovation (July 2018)
GraceNotes: Grace and Self-Denial (June 22, 2018)
Introducing The Why: Applying Filters (June 2018)
GraceNotes: Changing The Storyline (June 15, 2018)
GraceNotes: Grace and Patience (June 8, 2018)
Digging Deeper: Mark of the Beast (June 2018)
Even If I Don't See It With My Own Eyes (June 2018)
GraceNotes: Grace and Truth (June 1, 2018)
Dare To Be A Daniel (June 2018)
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