I wrote last week how this year I couldn’t mourn the cross. Then I found myself in the Maundy Thursday service, reaching for one Kleenex after another. I wasn’t mourning Jesus’ sufferings. Wasn’t even mourning my own sin. I was weeping tears of relief at the invitation to come broken.
I had walked my way there struggling against the frustration of living in this body where every attempt to improve the situation seems to make it worse. More, I was frustrated by my frustration. Here I was on my way to remember my Beloved’s sufferings, his forever vows to me, and I couldn’t get my thoughts off myself.
Between segments of Psalm 31, I half-sobbed the sung words which gave space for my brokenness:
“In my trials, Lord, walk with me;
In my trials, Lord, walk with me;
When my heart is almost breaking,
Lord, I want Jesus to walk with me.”
I wept over the welcome offered, tears of relief over Love that makes space for all of me. Wept, too, at the whispered reassurance that sometimes when we feel like we’re missing the mystery, we’re living it most deeply.
There are days we see clearly and days we hold on through the fog. And the good news of Good Friday is that we’re held just as close on the days we struggle as on the days we celebrate. We live now in the new covenant in Jesus’ blood, the covenant that declares that we don’t have to get it all together in order to come – or stay – with God. For unlike the previous covenants which were all broken because people did not trust the Giver, “this covenant cannot be broken. All the other covenants were between God and human beings, but this covenant is between God and God.” (Darrell Johnson)
That’s how much God desired us: He became human so he could keep our part of the covenant as well as His own.
So go ahead. Stop trying to hold it together and let yourself weep. You are welcome in this space where you don’t have to have it together to be His. Weep when you need to; just don’t weep alone. Weep – and lean hard into this One who does for you what you cannot do for yourself. Weep – and through the tears give thanks. You are so loved!
Lovely! Thank you!
This was sent to me by a friend. It couldn’t be more ‘bang on’ for where I am in a particular life journey I’m on. What a relief it is to come to our Savior as broken. In addition, although humbling, it is in our brokenness amongst our fellow faith sojourners where our stories often most poignantly meet His story through our tears and pain.
Thank you for this, and I’ll be sure to thank my friend for passing it along.
Thanks so much for sharing this, Beth.
Our pastor was reminding us yesterday that when the risen Jesus appeared to his disciples, one of the first things he did was show them his scars (John 20:20). That proved who he was, but it also showed us that we are welcome to come broken into the presence of Jesus. He has scars too.
Much grace to you in your journey!
Thank you Carolyn for this message. I feel like we can crawl into His wounds with our own or others and that He will cover us in His wounds and totally protect us as such. He is the great Jehovah Rapha and does cover us with His wings of healing, His wounds sufficient to cover ours in all ways. I just passed an unusual and most complicated week, not just for me, but also with others and God so showed me some aspects of His love and how He, in presenting these complications of others including my own,on my path, wants to bring healing and understanding.to my heart. He is so amazing. Like Darrell said in his message on Sunday quoting Bruce Mill ” It is when we bring healing to others, we realize that our own wounds are being healed”.
Thank you for your love to us in sharing from your own pain.
Dear Klara, Thank you so much for sharing this. Isn’t it lovely how Jesus meets us in our places of woundedness with His own wounds. It makes the places of pain worth it, knowing Him there in ways we cannot otherwise know Him.
In a most unusual way, it helps us to rejoice, greet a new reality, an almost high that God so meets us.
Yes!