Donuts and chocolates come to mind as items that can be a mystery—what is on the inside? I’m not fond of fruit fillings in either but sometimes it’s hard to tell. The outside can be deceiving.
Do you ever drive down a street in the evening and look at houses with the soft glow of lamp light coming through the window? It always looks peaceful to me. We all want “peaceful.” Yet if I were to knock on the door it’s hard to guess what I might find. Those of you who deal with the clients we serve can attest to that fact.
I have realized lately that people are the same way. Some people appear on the outside to have it all together yet are falling apart on the inside. Nice clothes, well-applied makeup, a healthy BMI and working out at the gym are great—but what’s up with our soul?
We can only know people as much as they will allow us to know them. Most of us, if not all, have pain and sorrow (and perhaps shame) that we would never speak about. Yet all of those, along with great things (hopefully), make up who we are. I also find that if someone shares those pains with me I feel I know them a little better.
The reality is that I can’t throw you a Bible verse and make all that pain go away. Well-meaning people try (I know I have!!) but true comfort and hope are things you have to experience. But both are very real. I’m not talking about fluffy sentiment either—this is not the kind of comfort you get from a Hallmark card. It is deep within your soul. However, I will say that, from my own experience, this comfort comes after I have wept and cried out to the Lord. I have a sense that His comfort is always available but we are too busy, stubborn, prideful and/or {fill in the blank} to receive it until we are broken before Him.
I’m no expert but I’m sure there are things that have happened to us that we may never share with another human being. But God knows and He gets it. His own Son suffered more than we can conceive. The irony here is that He had the power to avoid suffering but chose to suffer for our sake. This is a portion of Isaiah 53 that confirms this (however, I encourage you to read the whole chapter on your own):
“He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:3-5 ESV (emphasis mine)
That, my friends, is where the hope is found. And there are times that we find that we are just barely holding on. However, the God of the Universe won’t let go—He promised!
I will close with the first verse of a familiar hymn because I think it fits:
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.
Refrain
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
Have a great day!