I recorded this one night when I could not sleep - my thoughts on how I treat my relationship with God very formally, in a way which I would not with other people - such as my husband.
There was an ugly silence coming from the kitchen. I could tell that Martha was upset, she usually ends up there when she is. But this was different. Today was the Passover sabbath. We should have been celebrating- a day of rest, with family and friends. We had been expecting Jesus. But earlier in the week, it had all gone wrong. Lazarus had come in the house to tell us he’d heard Jesus had been arrested, and he was going to find out more. When he came back, I could see that something was wrong, but I never anticipated this. ‘He’s dead’. ‘How? Why?’ ‘Crucified.’ I couldn’t bear to ask Lazarus any more - his face was grey and his face was working horribly. He disappeared out again and we didn’t see him at all the next day. Crucifixion was terrible. None of us ever wanted to see it, but since the victims died along major roads, it was impossible to miss. I think that was the point. The worst thing was how long they took to die - I remember seeing one man on the wa...
'Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.' Sometimes I imagine I am shouting like Bartimaeus. Absolutely yelling out to Jesus, above the crowd. But really I'm whispering. Why? Is it that I don't really want Him to hear? I don't believe that I need Him? Or maybe I don't think He will come. Or perhaps I'm afraid of what the crowd will think. Anyway, the end result is - He doesn't hear me. He walks on. The opportunity passes. He's gone. He was passing through - He has passed through. Will He come back again? Who knows. So here I am, still by the side of the road. Still blind. What happens next? What's the ending? Do I ever see? Will I ever meet Jesus? This feels uncomfortable - It's unresolved
I was reading Psalm 103 today in The Message version: He crowns you with love and mercy—a paradise crown. He wraps you in goodness—beauty eternal. He renews your youth—you’re always young in his presence. I was struck by the words in these verses about what God does for us - crowns us, wraps us, renews our youth. It reminds me of how what the beauty and fashion industry would seek to sell us - adornments, clothes, everlasting youth from beauty treatments. Yet these are things that God has given to us. It reminded me of Isaiah 61: The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, [ a ] 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord ’s favour ...
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