time and space
As I walked through grief and loneliness, I saw the river of tears flowing through my pain. I heard my cry of agony echoing in the valley of hurt. I noticed the smell of sweet sorrow as it wafted across the chasms of silence. I tasted the cup of bitterness and stood alone in the midst of the unknown. Yet, as each of us have experienced grief in different ways, it is the journey - step by step - that leads forward into new hope.
In these past few weeks, I have heard heart breaking news, listened to painful stories and felt such empathy and longing to heal so many hurts, but all I can offer is my listening ear, a loving heart of compassion and deliberate prayers. I long to do so much more, but it is not my path to walk. That is not the space I am in and it is not my time.
Throughout history, we have read or heard about stories of human suffering and yet there are as many tales of bravery, courage, overcoming impossible obstacles even in the face of death. We can chose to take our moments of pain and hold them in our fists declaring that we will fight and overcome; but the reality is that what we need to do is to let go, to release those chains that are binding us to the pain. Open our palms to receive blessings. Turn our palms together and lift them up in prayer. And we need to walk through whatever it is to become the person God is molding us to be.
Our struggles can strengthen us. As we “walk through the valley of the shadow of death” we are to fear no evil. He walks with us. Years ago I remember reading the poem “Footprints”. Many have claimed to have written it, but apparently it first appeared in 1978 in a small town newspaper and was about an elderly man who was ready to die.
"As I'm looking down on the paths I've trod, I see two sets of footprints on the easy paths.
But down the rocky roads I see only one set of footprints.
"Tell me, Lord, why did you let me go down all those hard paths alone?"
The Lord smiled and simply replied, "Oh, my son, you've got that all wrong!
I carried you over those hard paths."
And so, as we walk this sometimes long and arduous life, we can know that we don’t have to do it alone. We have supportive and loving people in our lives, but we also have a God who carries us through time and space to better places. Let go and let Him walk you through the hard paths.
"Do not grieve for the joy of the Lord is your strength." Nehemiah 8:10