Before an Easter Sunday, there was a Good Friday... And Good Friday wasn't easy in the least.. And there are other days that can be as tough as a day like that one.
Forward Friday draws on the reality that we all, at some point we have heart cries; moments that seem to take our breath away because the pain and agony seem to be relentless.
As we come closer to Easter Sunday, we draw on some good medicine that we are not only not alone but we have one who has been where we have been or are. It's an encouraging Friday!
Let's Get Into This!
I wrote her.....and....She sent it back unopened...
Or
Dear Dairy..... How come no one seems to like me?
Or
Why did he dump me for her? What does she have that I don't have?
Or
My finances are a shambles and I don't know where I'm going to find the next $5 to pay for food on the table let alone pay my bills.
Or when the cuts run deeper..
The day you walk into the office or at lunch hour or at the end of the day and we are told that we are no longer needed. Or it is a trumped up reason of some sort but it still says that they don't need us. Worse still, it seems like we are a failure on some level and it sends us in a tail spin.
Or
The engagement has been a little rocky at times but the day comes when the call, the sit-down or worse, the text comes that it is over, no going back, they are walking.
Or
The day the marriage is over and the one we loved is walking out and not coming back, leaving a path of destruction in the wake of that decision.
We are seemingly immobilized, the kids if we have them are now in the middle of this mess. And maybe the marriage was living on fumes for a while but still, the darkness of the moment has overtaken us.
Or
The day we get the call that our loved one has passed away. Even when it was expected, even when the one(s) we have loved have suffered for a long or short time, it still is a shock to the system and we are now faced with life without them now.
Or
The untold stories of those who lost loved ones during the past 2 years and in some cases, couldn't even have a funeral of more than 10. Some couldn't even view the body of their loved one because of edicts imposed.
Some could only look through a window to see the lifeless body of their loved one and that was it.
Or
Maybe it's a sickness or illness that has held us for any period of time. We can't seem to find much relief and it is a weigh down that constantly reminds us of what we are up against.
Or
It could be the aches and pains that just won't go away no matter what we do or don't do and it is a constant, continual grind.
Or
The destruction of family and friends connections and relationships over the past 2 years that have left gaping holes in our hearts and lives.
Now, one could look at some of this and say, this is not very uplifting but if we are dealing with something, it's not going away just because we wish it away.
Having said that, I think that every day is an opportunity to bring comfort to someone who is in need of it and I think all the more when we are walking into special moments like Easter in the course of any given year, it should give cause for us to see where we are on the comforting scale.
The truth is, we all have heart cries that have kept us up, caused us discomfort so our boats pretty much look like each others with some nuances thrown in which means...
We can be a comfort to one another when it is needed.
There is this great verse that talks about how we can be of great comfort to each other when we go through hardships, difficulties etc.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says, 3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.
But because we are on the precipice of Easter, we have some pictures of who Jesus is like and how we can know if He really cares when we go through the struggles, the rough moments, the heart cries that we face.....
So Some Good Medicine
Many people have been given a bad picture or representation of who Jesus and God are in relation to how they view us..
Some think that God is some mad old man who can't wait to wreak havoc and retribution for the things we have done or not done and that picture is so far off the truth of actual reality.
There are 3 pictures of Jesus Heart Cries in the lead up to and into Good Friday that can help us know that He knows the roads we walk on and that He truly cares for when we go through the moments we go through.
Picture 1 Jesus Weeps Over Jerusalem 4 Days Before
Jesus is looking out over Jerusalem and He is in anguish because He knows what is to take place in a few days.
He doesn't want the people to be lost and miss out on the good that He has come to bring but the heart cry comes out because He knows most will continue to march to the beat of their own drum and get stuck in the process.
When some say that God is looking to "Get" us, this picture tells a different story.
Picture 2 The Garden of Gethsemane The Night Before
Jesus knows pain; He knows grief, He knows agony. We witnessed just a few short weeks earlier how He wept when Lazarus died; how the grief of the people affected Him to the point that He acted, healed and raised Lazarus from the dead.
At this point, Jesus is praying to His Father, asking that the cup of bitterness/death that he no doubt will be facing in a few short hours would pass from Him.
Alone with his three closest friends, he let his feelings show. He was horribly aware of what was to come – he had seen other men tortured and crucified, and he staggered with shuddering horror at what lay ahead. He was ‘sorrowful, even unto death’.
This was the huge moment, the time of testing. He could have taken off into the desert to the east. He could hide, get back to Galilee, where he would be relatively safe. Would he stay in Jerusalem and endure a dreadful death, or take off?
Jesus walked a little way further and began to pray. He fell on his knees – most people at that time stood to pray – and asked God to spare him, if it was possible. If God willed it. Then he went back to his three friends.
Some Encouraging Takeaways From This Picture:
Jesus was praying not just to avoid a terrible death, but to discover God’s will and to find the strength to cope with what was coming; he was providing a concrete example of the value of prayer and that in the middle of a mess, we can know that we can find strength in talking to God about whatever "It" is that we are dealing with.
When he used the term "Abba" in his prayer, he showed the absolute trust of a child; Translated as "Dad or Daddy", the use of this familiar term in a prayer to God would have seemed disrespectful to Jewish people at the time
Just as Jesus turned to God in prayer during this crazy moment, we can too:
Picture 3 Jesus Cries Out On the Cross
Some would have us think that Jesus was a weak, no strength man when He walked this earth but nothing is further from the truth.
To endure what He went through, "He had and has real strength", "Real get knocked on to the mat but get back up strength" and He did all of that for us!
The Cross
The Romans who used it on a massive scale to execute people.
The victim was fastened to the cross by cords, or his hands were nailed, and he was left to die.
Even with the heat of the sun, the pull of the body and the torture the victim had endured before being put on the cross, sometimes it took a week to die on a cross. It was one of the most terrible, painful ways to die.
Cries On The Cross Takeaways
When they nailed him to the cross, it was, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” Love for those who did Him wrong yet still had compassion for them.
When one of the two thieves said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom,” Jesus said to him, “I'm saying to you, ‘Today you shall be with me in paradise.’ ” He showed love and concern for even the convicted thief; how much more for us?
Even in great agony, Jesus saw his mother, with her heart breaking, standing by the cross, and looking up to him with unutterable love and grief, and he said to her, “Woman, behold, your son!” and to the beloved disciple, John, “Behold your mother!” and so he provided a home for her when he himself would be gone away.
Even in the worst of circumstances, we see Jesus clinging to God, a picture like double handed grip faith to hold on to God as much as He is holding on to us and still trusting in God:
It's as if He takes hold of him: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Jesus cannot bear to be abandoned by God; everything else causes him very little pain compared with the anguish of being forsaken/taken for granted by God.
So:
Even when it is the most painful, we can learn to cling to God, to grip to him with double-handed faith; and if we even think that He has forsaken us, We have this cry after Him, and say, “Show me why you are with me, for I cannot be without you.”
Easter Sunday and next week's post will be exciting, full of hope, fearlessness, triumph but it is a necessity to remember that: There was and is a Good Friday and their lead ups are not easy at the best of times but....
Every day is born in darkness
Every winter yields to spring
Jesus is still the resurrection
Even when the tomb is sealed
There are tough roads we walk sometimes and the cries of the heart no doubt hurt but we...do...not...walk...alone...nor...have...to....
What a crazy, heartwarming thought!!
Together... on the Easter Pilgrimage... We're not ever alone.... even when the Heart Cries!!
Dave
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