933 Oh, That's Jesus!

  Everywhere you’ve ever been, every moment you’ve ever lived, Jesus has been with you. He’s been right beside you, seeing it all, knowing it all, and carrying you through it all. There’s never been a moment you were away from him. The light of his love has always been by your side. I listened to an interview with a woman who had endured such trauma in her childhood that she had blocked it from her memory. As an adult, when she began remembering, she could hardly see the images because of the blinding light beside her. That’s when she realized, it was Jesus. He was there with her. He always had been. Looking back, I see it too. I see how Jesus was with me. He was the calm in the storm. He was the peace in the chaos. He was the refuge in the battle where I rested. He was the somehow knowing it was going to be okay, even when it wasn’t okay. That was Jesus, his light, his presence, and now I know he’s always been there. The Zach Williams song with Dolly Parton called “There Was Jesus” always stops me in my tracks. Literally wherever I am and whatever I’m doing, I just stop and I’m swept away by the words of this song. It happened this weekend while I was cleaning my kitchen. I heard the lyrics and I stood at the sink with the water running, just covered by each word. Every time I tried to make it on my own Every time I tried to stand and start to fall And all those lonely roads that I have traveled on There was Jesus When the life I built came crashing to the ground When the friends I had were nowhere to be found I couldn’t see it then but I can see it now There was Jesus In the waiting, in the searching In the healing and the hurting Like a blessing buried in the broken pieces Every minute, every moment Where I’ve been and where I’m going Even when I didn’t know it or couldn’t see it There was Jesus Where are you today? Are you in the waiting? Waiting for something to happen. Waiting for something to change. Waiting for what seems to have already come and gone and now it’s too late? That’s where Jesus is. He’s here in the waiting with you. He’s waiting beside you with his light that gives you endurance to wait as long as you have to wait. Here in this forced holy pause of waiting, you will not wait alone. Are you in the searching? Searching for meaning to it all? Searching for the ‘more’ you feel called to, but can’t seem to find it? Searching for what God may be doing here, but can’t see it? Jesus is here in your searching. He’s revealing hidden treasures at just the right time for you to find. He’s guiding each step as you search, leading you to more than you could ever imagine. He’s here with you, and you’re not searching alone. Are you in the healing? You’re here, being put back together again. Receiving supernatural repair for that which has been so broken. Being touched by the hands of the Great Physician, being restored from within and made whole again after life had torn you apart. Oh, that’s Jesus. He’s here in this healing. Lean into him. He has care for you personally and his touch redeems every pain. Jesus is here in the healing. Or are you in the hurting? This place where nothing makes sense and the loss is too great for you to bare. Where worry fills your heart and darkness clouds your mind and you see nothing but broken pieces. This is where Jesus is for you. He’s here in the hurting, right beside you, never leaving you alone. He is close. He is present. And he is strong. Strong enough for you to fall into and be carried here. Back in the 80’s every home had basically the same pictures hanging on their walls. It was before the days of Target and Home Goods,...