Hi Friends, This is a week that many believers are anticipating Good Friday and meditating on the cross. It has me pondering grief. Let’s look into it together. First, part of a song I wrote with friends some years back: Jesus, Oh my Brother There are moments of grief and uncertainty in life where time seems to slow to a crawl. This is when we most need Jesus our Brother. When the door shut behind him, and you didn’t realize it would be for the last time. When the diagnosis comes in, and the ground swims under your feet. When answers are elusive, and life is hanging precariously in the balance. When all you can do is wait, and tomorrow feels impossible to face. There is a pain that seems to split the heart in two. It most certainly splits a life in two. There is a “before”, an “after”, and in the middle? Gethsemane. These are the moments we need Jesus, our Brother. The One who gets down in the trench with us, down in that dark valley, and suddenly we are no longer alone. He breathed these same agonizing prayers in the garden, drops of blood on His brow. The Hill of Golgotha stretched out ahead. In that moment where all we hold precious is suspended in mid-air—life in slow motion—He hangs suspended in mid-air, too. His arms, stretched wide on either side, reach far beyond what is possible for the human frame. His very love is reaching, reaching, beyond decades and centuries, beyond the bounds of time and space. In His suffering, His waiting, He is holding us. The sudden awareness of His presence. The gentle nearness we feel, even in the middle of earth-shattering pain and uncertainty. This is Him. He is carrying us, right here, right now. He is with us. Thank you for being right here with me, Jesus. I need you now more than ever. I can make it to the next moment, and the next after that, if You are with me. Your love is carrying me now. —Anna P.S. You can hear the song I reference here, sung (and co-written) by Chris Tofilon. |
I am a singer, songwriter, wife, mother, Jesus follower. I send out a 2-minute read every Tuesday about Jesus and life in God.
Hi Friends, My heart has been stirred today with a simple meditation rooted in John 17:12. Jesus prays to the Father, saying: “I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost…” Kept. What are you facing today? Take heart. You’re in the hands of Jesus. He keeps and loses not one. A few hours after this prayer, when He is in the garden of Gethsemane with His disciples, Jesus demonstrates this keeping: The soldiers and Pharisees come with weapons and...
Hi Friends, I love a good checklist. I have one for my “to-do” list today, I have one for cleaning the house, I have one for the next grocery run. I google for a list of pros and cons when buying new shoes or a replacement vacuum. I peruse the listed benefits on which zoo passes to buy the family. “Do you want “package A” with this list of benefits or “package B” with these?” Boom. Decision made easy. I love it. Imagine the thrill in my list-loving soul when I stumbled on James 3:14-18 and...
Dear Friends, As a Christian, I love the cross. I love the cross. And yet I am prone to race right past it. Past the gore, past the scandal of it, right to the blessedness of resurrection and redemption. You could never overstate resurrection and redemption. But when I take a moment to look my friend Jesus in the face, to ponder His life, His sacrifice, I’m brought to my knees at the cross. Below, in bold, is a chorus I sang about this.How has it come to this?Jesus You’re bleeding Son of the...