This article was quite fascinating to me. It definitely brought many thoughts of my own to the surface from some recess of the mind, just waiting to resurface at a time such as this. What I find beautiful about it is the way in which the author does not attempt to solve the problem or resolve a firm conclusion. Instead she hypothesizes and thinks out loud for our sakes, yet lays the foundation of what we do ultimately know to be true by the last paragraph.
All posts tagged darkness
Some Food for Thought
Posted by AJ Petersen on January 11, 2013
https://thewayofredemption.wordpress.com/2013/01/11/some-food-for-thought/
Reflections: Joy and Hope
*This post will refer to Saturday and the Hope of Sunday, so if you haven’t read that one, it might be helpful to read that first.
Abba, I have to confess that this morning I was not feeling celebratory. I know, I know… it’s Easter! It’s the day that we rejoice that You are ALIVE! How could I NOT be happy and excited?! Well, I was at first… but then I experienced the reminders of pain and suffering and knew the isolation of deep loneliness. No matter what I did, I could not get past the despair that seemed to hover over my soul as a storm cloud of darkness. I rested. I prayed. I read Your Word. I sat and listened. Nothing was working, and I was beginning to lose heart. I know that joy doesn’t equal happiness, but I so badly wanted even joy, if not Your happiness and tangible presence. I kept asking myself, ‘Why can’t I rejoice in this suffering, rejoice that I am carrying my cross for Jesus?!’ but then I came across 1 Thessalonians 1:6 — “You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.” Woah. What I realized after reading this passage is that I DON’T have to rejoice in the trials themselves — they are evil and Jesus tells us to avoid them, to pray against them in the Lord’s Prayer! He says that we are to ask Him to “lead us NOT into temptation”. Since God cannot tempt us to sin, I think this means to lead us not into trials and bad circumstances. Now, even if I am wrong in this, Paul still tells the Thessalonians to rejoice IN THE MIDST OF severe suffering — he doesn’t say that we have to say “Yay! Suffering!” with a smile on our faces and laughing, but he does say that we should rejoice DESPITE suffering, rejoice in who we KNOW Christ to be and what the eternal outcome will be. This brought me so much relief this afternoon as I rollerbladed as far as my tired legs would take me (I ran my first 5K yesterday, so they were already quite sore!).
Not only did the idea of rejoicing despite the suffering bring me relief, but it brought me hope. (Yes, now I’m finally getting to the reference you’ve been wondering when I was going to use!) I was feeling earlier as if all hope was gone, as though Jesus’ sacrifice didn’t give me any reason to be hopeful. Now, I know that feelings are not everything, so I was determined to not let negative thoughts and painful feelings get the better of me. So I meditated on all that God has done for me in the past; I KNOW that He is faithful and that He can (and will) work in every situation for my best. I brought to mind testimony of the past where I know that God has worked in my friends’ lives and in the lives of His people (in Scripture) in similar ways. I took captive the negative thoughts (that God can’t work in my pain) for Christ and spoke His truth to my soul. Through this process, God brought hope back into my heart, even though the pain and loneliness still resided there. I did not feel His presence, but I did not need to. I KNOW that He is with me always, whether I feel Him there or not. THIS is how I’m able to speak with conviction and sing with sincerity these words which I felt guilty singing only a few short hours before:
Jesus, hope of the nations
Jesus, comfort for all who mourn
You are the source of Heaven’s hope on earth
Jesus, light in the darkness
Jesus, truth in each circumstance
You are the source of Heaven’s light on earth
He IS the hope for the nations, no matter how corrupt, no matter how broken, no matter how destitute, no matter how far away from Him they may be. He IS the comfort for ALL who mourn, whether they mourn in the open, physically, or mourn in silence, too tender and personal to ever show it. He IS the source of hope to the earth, to this fallen, shattered, broken world. Hope isn’t just wishful thinking; it is an expectation of what we know is to come. He IS the hope that we have of redemption, of healing, of love. He IS the light in the darkness of this sinful world. He IS the truth in every circumstance, no matter how painful, horrifying, or remote it may be. He IS the source of light — not just physical light, but spiritual light, too. Jesus Christ brings HOPE through His miraculous resurrection. He IS hope through His remarkable, unexpected return. And He will return again — it will be unexpected and remarkable, just like the first time, but this is where Christians place their hope. This is where I place my hope.
In what or whom does your hope lie? My prayer is that it lies in the only One who can fulfill it.
Posted by AJ Petersen on April 8, 2012
https://thewayofredemption.wordpress.com/2012/04/08/reflections-joy-and-hope/
The Passion of Jesus Christ
Last night I watched “The Passion of the Christ”. It was definitely harder to watch this year than it was last year, probably because I KNOW my Savior and my Abba so much more intimately. I was particularly struck by a couple of things:
1) Jesus’ eyes — every time He encountered someone, He looked deeply into their eyes. Those people, in that moment, knew there was something different about Christ. Every person either turned away, refusing to look Him in the eye, or they couldn’t stop looking into His penetrating gaze. The four people who didn’t look away were John, Veronica, Simon, and Mary. These four knew Christ. They maybe didn’t know Him right away, but the power and irresistibility of His look, peering into their very souls, drew them to Him because they found truth and love there. They found their Messiah in Him in those moments. Everyone else, however, looked away because they couldn’t bear to face the truth. They saw the truth, but they couldn’t let themselves believe it or let it penetrate them because if they did, they would see just how horrifying their deeds were, how sinful they were.
So into which category do YOU fall? Are you looking away, refusing to see the truth and believe what is found there? Or are you gazing longingly, full of sorrow and love, into His eyes, finding truth, finding forgiveness, finding the greatest love that anyone could ever give there? It’s your choice — there is no passivity. Both turning away and staying require action. Which will you choose this day, every day?
2) How could they DO that to Him?! He never did anything wrong; the accusations they brought against Him were all false. They were made-up lies! And not only that, but how could they bear to torture someone through all that flogging and mocking… and then put them through the agony of crucifixion? How could they bear to do that to ANYONE, let alone an innocent man? Let alone Christ, God and Man?
My whole being was absolutely appalled at what they did to Him… but then I realized that I also do that to Him. No, I don’t physically whip Him or spit in His face, but the reason that He went through all of that pain was for me — for all of us. He didn’t only go through excruciating physical pain — He went through unbearable emotional and mental pain in the moments leading up to His arrest. He experienced the worst spiritual pain, the worst kind of rejection possible — His Father, God of the Universe, forsaking Him. Abba abandoned Him on that cross — for you and for me. Christ went through all that willingly — for us. He kept getting up again to carry that cross, so broken and exhausted and bleeding, because He knew that He was doing it for us. Not only that, but the guilt and pain of ALL of the WORLD’s sins He carried. That means that He bore the weight of EVERY SINGLE sin I have ever done or thought or said. So really, I did all of that to Him, too. He suffered willingly, but I also participated in handing Him over and killing Him. This realization was so heart-breaking, so moving, that I see SO much more significance for every moment of my life. With my life I have the ability to honor and glorify Him or to add another weight, another sin, to the millions that He bore. I have a choice — for good or for evil. With all that is in me I pray that God might give me the strength to honor my Suffering King by choosing good, by taking up my own cross and following Him, by living every moment obedient to His calling.
Again, there is no room for passivity here. Every action we do, every thought we meditate upon, and every word we say is for good or for evil. Which will you choose? Will you honor your Christ — your King? Or will you continue to participate in crucifying Him? It’s a daily choice, a moment-by-moment choice.
Posted by AJ Petersen on April 7, 2012
https://thewayofredemption.wordpress.com/2012/04/07/the-passion-of-jesus-christ/
Darkened Room
My past is a darkened room,
mysterious, black, with pain.
The little girl stumbles around,
falling and tripping in vain
because there is no light to guide
her naive, innocent feet
in the straight path, true and good.
She cries, overwhelmed by defeat.
Then suddenly, ten years along,
a friend opens the door
of her dark room to shine a light,
the light of truth Abba has in store
for her in His plan and will;
the little girl blinks, confused.
She groans and cries in the hurt
that it brings; she does not understand
how good the light will be in the end.
But then she notices she can see
the obstacles in her path
and the glimpse of light begins to seem
appealing to the little girl at last.
Posted by AJ Petersen on September 10, 2011
https://thewayofredemption.wordpress.com/2011/09/10/darkened-room/
August 21, 2011
I hate falsehoods, I hate lies,
Exhausting, wearying; I despise
The constant battle in my mind
Of Jesus’ love for all mankind
And Satan’s seemingly heart-wrenching hold
On my thoughts. Believing what I am told
By the world instead of TRUTH
That, though we are foreigners like Ruth,
God accepts and loves us still
No matter how we struggle and fail.
He says, “You’re Mine.” They say, “You’re not.”
He says, “My daughter.” They say, “Come on.”
He says, “You’re special.” They say, “No way.”
He says, “I love you.” They say, “Who could?”
He says, “I died for you.” They simply scoff.
He says, “You’re lovely.” They point and laugh.
He says, “You’re chosen.” They roll their eyes.
I stand for Him and receive their lies
As little whispers or screaming jeers
Until, overwhelmed by many tears,
I tell Abba what I should KNOW
And plead with Him for them to go.
But He has a plan for this struggle and pain
To glorify Him until we’re together again.
Posted by AJ Petersen on August 21, 2011
https://thewayofredemption.wordpress.com/2011/08/21/august-21-2011/
Being Your Church
My mouth is shut, my lips are sealed.
I don’t like this feeling at all.
You gave me words to speak, Abba,
But I don’t want him to fall
Deeper in darkness or further from You,
I just want him to be healed.
I know what it’s like to be where he is
And I want him to know he’s not alone.
You are always there, but a human can be
A comfort to hear when their hurt is known.
Please Abba, give me a chance to speak,
To be an encouragement to my friend,
To show him Your power when he is weak,
To let him know it is not the end.
Posted by AJ Petersen on August 9, 2011
https://thewayofredemption.wordpress.com/2011/08/09/being-your-church/
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