Friday, March 25, 2011

Friday Listenin': "All Gone"

(Click here to Download "All Gone" by Melody Olson)


No shackles wrapped around my neck
The deep deep scars that pillage left
I lift them high and I come to find

They're all gone
They're all gone
They're all gone, gone, gone
They're all gone

No circles 'round my heavy eyes
My stone-clad heart as cold as ice
You come inside and I come to find

They're all gone
They're all gone
They're all gone, gone, gone
They're all gone

Oh bless in hard, and bless in peace
They've fallen and overtaken me
My foolish stains have been washed away

They're all gone
They're all gone
They're all gone, gone, gone
They're all gone

Monday, March 21, 2011

Longing for Home

I’ve always loved “people watching”.  I think it stems from those 1AM trips to the grocery store with my dad from the time I was teeny tiny where we would just watch the people walking around, what they were buying, how they were dressed, etc.  I would try to guess what they might be thinking about or what might be going on in their lives at that point in time.  I still do the same thing – I love to sit on a bench in the mall with a cup of coffee and watch all the people walk by.  One thing that seems different lately, however, is that I don’t have to look nearly as hard to see past hustle and bustle.  It seems like people have stopped working as hard to hide the pain, or maybe the pain is just harder to hide?

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.” [Rom 8:18-19]

On Tuesday at 6AM, my nephew was born.  A precious little 8lb baby who was born exhibiting signs of infection that will keep him in the hospital for precautionary treatment until Sunday.  Why does a tiny little baby have to bear the pain of sin?

“For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.” [Rom 8:20-21]

Between driving to Tennessee to see the baby and various other things, I’ve done a ton of driving in the past couple weeks.  And gas prices just continue to creep up and up and up… the gas station signs line the road to remind me that a gallon of gas will cost me nearly $4.  Or maybe they remind me to pray for the strife and darkness that is overwhelming parts of the Middle East?

“The ruined city lies desolate; the entrance to every house is barred. In the streets they cry out for wine; all joy turns to gloom, all joyful sounds are banished from the earth. The city is left in ruins, its gate is battered to pieces. So will it be on the earth and among the nations…” [Isaiah 24:10-13]

And how could we forget the tsunami that obliterated so many people, homes, and lives in a matter of seconds?  Those people are someone’s brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, son and daughters.  And it’s not over yet – radiation and aftershocks continue to pillage the area, as though to mock those who attempt to rise from the ruble to their feet and move forward…only to be knocked down again.  Or Haiti? Ravaged by an earthquake over a year ago, and now by cholera and other devistation. 

"The floodgates of the heavens are opened, the foundations of the earth shake. The earth is broken up…the earth is violently shaken. The earth reels like a drunkard, it sways like a hut in the wind…so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion that it falls—never to rise again.” [Is 24:18-20]

My baby sister just got back from her first missions trip, a wonderful experience all around.  She went to Mexico to spend time with orphans who are desperately starved for attention because many of the groups that usually visit have been unable due to the severe violence in Juarez.  My sister was one of a small group of about 8 college students who gave up their Spring Break to go.  The group was small because everyone had to be at least 18 years of age, as the violence is Juarez is so bad that they won’t take minors across the border.  Do you hear the cries of the children who were abandoned once, again feeling the weight of hurt and fear of abandonment in a broken world?  Who is going to love on the little boy whose body is covered in cigarette burns and whose mind is tormented by the effects of fetal alcohol syndrome now that the team has returned to the States?  How about the sweet girl who struggles with attachment disorder as a result of abuse from her mom, a prostitute with more than enough of her own pain?

"We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” [Romans 8:22]

In the past few months, I’ve begun seeing “now hiring” signs in the front windows of stores for the first time in years – glimmers of hope.  But even more frequent is standing behind someone in line at the grocery store who is deciding what they can do without in order to get the bill below what they can afford.

What about the broken girl who’s tormented by memories of harm done to her?  Reminders of hurtful things that were said or done?  Pain and fear, feelings of worthlessness and failure, shame and guilt bind her like chains, holding her back from knowing *true* love and preciousness.  Making her feel like she has no worth, no reason to be here on the earth, no reason to matter to anyone.  Where was God when she was hurt?  What must be done for her to be free?

“Not only so, but we ourselves…groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope w e   w e r e   s a v e d. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”  [Rom 8:23-25]

What, then, shall we say in response to these things?

Do you hear the loud groans of our aching world?  They sound like gas station signs and broken families, NICU equipment and stained sleeves, scared children and stifled sobs, overdrawn back accounts and tear-stained faces, homes in strife and marriages broken, a mother’s empty arms and flooded homes, gunfire and disease, orphanages and scars, bankruptcy notices and nightmares,….

I f   G o d   i s   f o r   u s ,   w h o   c a n   b e   a g a i n s t   u s ?

“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?...Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? …No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. [Romans 8:31-37]

It’s hard to see so much pain, so much hurt, so much brokenness.  My heart just *aches*.  This past week especially, the constant reminders of how very much hurt is in our world have seemed overwhelming.  I finally couldn’t ignore it anymore and spent a long time just lifting up the hurt and the hurting to the Lord – it’s all I know to do with such pain.  I was reminded of two things.

(1)
“Then he fell to the ground and worshipped.”  When Job lost his wife, his children, his servants, his fortune, his home, and everything that was dear to him, what was his response?  “The Lord has given and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.”  Pain and destruction are huge, but redeeming love though Christ’s sacrifice is bigger.  Who should separate us from the love of Christ?  Because of this, we have H O P E that “though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles (they are indeed momentary, even when they don’t feel such!) are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” [2 Cor 4:16-18]


(2)
“When darkness seems to win, we know / the pain reminds this heart that this is not, this is not our home…”  As I’ve thought about all the ways in which our world is groaning beneath the weight of sin and brokenness for which it was never created, I’ve found myself truly motivated to worship at the promise that these afflictions are, indeed, momentary.  We are promised a “home” that is free from all pain, where we will worship day and night in the presence of Glory.  “Maybe the reason for the pain is so that we would pray for strength / And maybe the reason for the strength is so that we would not lose hope / And maybe the reason for all hope is so that we could face the world / And the reason for the world is to make us long for H O M E”



( ( (  Tonight, this heart is longing for home.  ) ) )