There are those moments when you stand quite silent and still holding onto the answer with both hands, as tight as you can, because you don’t want to let go. You don’t want to tell your friend, your child, your parent, or your sibling the reality of what is happening in their life. You can’t imagine the depth of pain you’ll cause if you let go of that answer. The answer to the question they’re asking you. But, you have it, right there in your hand, where it can’t stay.
You have to let go.
That leaves you standing in the gap.
I’m an optimist. I still believe whatever is wrong, I can fix it. I still believe there’s an answer to every question. I still believe although I’ve been hurt more times than I can count, that love exists and there’s someone who loves me.
There I said it. I said what needed to be said. And the whole world can read it if they wish. Absolutely every human being who exists on the planet at this time, who has a computer and my web address – of course, can read what I wrote and laugh, cry, say nasty things or respond to this message.
But there’s more…
So much more that I have to say.
On this amazing night, as I stare out into the heavens wishing the clouds would clear for just a moment or two and reveal the amazingness of northern lights, while I’m still here in Anchorage, I still have more to say.
From way down deep, in the muck and mire in the lake, there’s a way out. An escape you can take if you choose, and it will work, no matter how deeply you’re covered in the muck and the mire. It’s called hope. It’s called faith. It’s called knowing beyond all else in life that Jesus is holding your hand.
It’s called knowing that no matter what else life brings you, no matter who abandons you, no matter how many times love leaves you in the muck and the mire, or how deeply it buries you in the depths of that pain, Jesus is there, holding our hand. It’s in the knowing. The strength is in knowing, beyond any shadow of doubt that you’re holding onto his hand and He will NOT let go.
I don’t utter these words lightly, nor do I take lightly the deep pain that so many are enduring around me. In this world, we face daily the struggles and trials of lives lived in the most basic ways, one moment at a time, and some of those moments are so long we wonder if they will EVER end. We struggle through those moments, grasping hanging onto anything we can find, hoping we’ve got ahold of the right thing, still believing that we thought we were on the right track. Ultimately, we may have been on the right track, may still be on the right track. In fact, we might be on the exact track of life that God intends us to be on, and never have slipped out of his will, not even a little. The life we experience, the pain we survive may have a reason, may have a purpose in the bigger picture of life that we’ll eventually understand. We never know how much of our lives are specifically designed for the purpose and benefit of God. But, I’ll tell you right now that we can know beyond any shadow of darkness or doubt that no matter what we experience in this life, no matter how hard we struggle or no matter the pain we must endure that Jesus is right there beside us holding our hand, because the Bible tells us that is so.
In the morning when daylight comes and the darkness fades away, we can all understand that the light exists and it really is there, yet in our darkest hours, sometimes we wonder if it’s still there. Does the light still exist? Will it come back? Will it ever again light my path? Will the sunshine bless my way again? The answer my friend is that yes the light will come back, the sun will shine and it will shine on you, you just have to believe that Jesus the Lord of everlasting life, the Savior of the world, specifically my Savior and yours, is standing right beside you, holding your hand, ready to guide you, pull you if necessary, out of the muck and the mire and back to dry land where the Sun is shining again.
Yes, that is Jesus holding your hand, standing in the gap.
