While having lunch with a new friend, I felt compelled to share about the season that I had been in for quite some time and it has been unlike any of the four seasons we are most accustomed to. This season had produced a sorrow in my heart that seemed to permeate through my whole being. While there were many, many days of laughter and sunshine, a part of my heart slowly began to feel as if a cloud hung over it that was too dark for the rays of Light to shine through. So, as I shared my feelings , I was met with a response that really ministered to my circumstance...."I have faith for you". Simple statement, right? But how many of us feel like we are carrying our burdens all alone? that if we don't "get over it and move on" then somehow we are less than and the shame of our inability to overcome seems to paralyze us and we remain in a rut with no hope of ever getting out! Well, there's good news and bad news....which one do you want first?....let's go with the bad news and end on a good note! The bad news is that you will eventually run out of your strength to overcome this mountain that is before you. You will feel the weight of the burden that you carry and it will consume you. Your grief, your sorrow, your anger, your guilt, your shame, whatever it is, it will eat your lunch and make you bitter, independent, sarcastic and cold unless you lay hold of the Good news.
The good news is that there is an answer for your dilema. Jesus Christ! You see, what my friend shared with me wasn't some ethereal answer that left me wanting, but it was a response that cause my heart to leap within me. Faith, hope and love have only one source...Jesus Christ...after all, He is all of these and more. You see, I couldn't see past my pain, and therefore became consumed by it and lost sight of the bigger picture. But Jesus, who is the author and finisher of my faith, hadn't lost sight of me. My friend was being used by the Lord to speak a word that went straight to my heart and it brought comfort. You see, he was being an ambassador for Christ and bringing me a letter straight from heaven. Christ wants to become everything that you are....everything that you need....your all in all. He wants to replace your fear with His Faith. He wants to replace your anger with His Peace. He wants to replace your sorrow with His Joy. He wants to replace your hopelessness with His Hope. He wants to replace your hate with His Love. He wants to replace your unforgiveness with His Forgiveness. He wants to replace your mourning with His Dancing. He wants to even give His Beauty for your ashes. You see, the things we desire can't be realized in ourselves. We can muster these things up for a while, but when life comes knocking on our door, we find ourselves coming up short ... there's only one solution for the ailment of our soul...Jesus Christ.
I want to be the ambassador to you today as my friend was to me yesterday. Receive the letter from Heaven that is being sent to you...."I have faith for you". It's not enough for us to believe that Christ wants to be everything that we have need of, we have to receive Him as the Life we need. I know, it's scary to let go of the stuff we've been holding on to...it feels as though it's become our friend because we've carried it around for so long, but it's not our friend. It is the enemy!
Christ is our Friend and He has come to give us Life and Life more abundantly. Are you up for the exchanged Life? Yours for His? Try Him, taste and see that God is good!
