(God’s Love in the Hard Places)
Even in the midst of the brokenness and struggles – the hard places - of our lives, every human being knows deep down that God is there.
But what does this mean for us? How does God intersect the “hard places of our lives” with His love? For a thousand years or more Christians have set aside the days of Lent (the 40 days before Easter not counting the Sundays) to remember just this – to be comforted, rejuvenated, and reoriented in living in His love. Deep down we all know He is there. We all know that somehow His love intersects our brokenness. In the next few weeks we will explore anew just what this means for us.
Sunday, February 21st Kingdom.
The children of Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness. Jesus spent 40 days there. John the Baptist rotted in prison until the time he was beheaded. Paul wrote much of the New Testament from prison. Where are you in a desert? Where are you in the dungeon of a prison? Right in these places is where the love of God intersects with our lives. It is what we focus on today.
Sunday, February 28th Peace.
Have you ever noticed? Peace – real peace – transcends the circumstances; it doesn’t come from them. I have seen it again and again. The woman who lost both legs and an arm to diabetes and lived in a very dirty and smelly nursing home – yet dwelled in an aura of peace. The man who….and I could go on and on. This is what we focus on today. Peace that transcends/intersects every hard place in our lives.
Sunday, March 7th Questions.
Questions. We all have them, especially in the broken places – the hard places – of our lives. A famous Christian who lived about 500 years ago (His name was Martin Luther) wrote about the “deus abscondicus” - the hidden will of God, the questions. He cautioned trying to look into it because, after all, it was hidden and was meant to be hidden. Instead he said to look where the love of God intersected into the questions. It is what we look at today.
Sunday, March 14th Light.
There is a rule of thumb when dealing with addiction. That which is left in the darkness continues to have power over you. But that which is brought out into the light can begin to be dealt with and overcome. Jesus is the light of the world. His light would intersect with every darkness that holds sway in our lives. It is what we focus on today.
Sunday, March 21st Greatness.
No child fantasizes about being on the losing team in the Super Bowl. We all want to “win!” To “amount to something.” To “make our lives count.” To “live for something greater than ourselves.” To “be great.”
It is as if someone made us this way – and He did! But have you ever noticed?...as we get older we tend to lose hope for greatness, especially in the hard places? Today the love of God intersects with our hearts desire to be great, even if we have given up hope.
Sunday, March 28th Presence. Palm Sunday
I worked in a grocery store in Newport Beach, CA during college. One day John Wayne comes sauntering in bigger than life. He was quite a presence as He gestured to all of our rafts and boomed, “I’ll take them all, my grandkids are here!” Another time, hot and sweaty with three young children and being the very next ones in line, we were held up at LAX while they ushered ahead of us Magic Johnson, bigger than life. What was even better was that after we boarded the plane, He came back to us – he stepped into our world from first class - and apologized to me and my family. What a class act. Today Jesus saunters into our world, intersecting with us especially in the hard places. Amazing.