new church life: march/april 2016
or drugs are dangerous, especially
given some of our family backgrounds
and genetic predispositions, but we
just want to try it. We just want some
fun. Or we know we are supposed to
be kind and welcoming but we shun
the kid who smells funny or has that
ridiculous haircut or wears his pants
too high, because we like the feeling of
being included in the cool crowd. Or
we lord it over our younger siblings,
maybe throwing in some punches or
dagger-like words, because we like the
feeling of power over something.
Often the two kinds of garbage
eating are connected. We need the
high feelings of euphoria or belonging
or power because it masks, although
usually poorly and temporarily at best, the terrible feelings we drag around all
the time. Unfortunately, trying to stop feeling like a jerk by acting like a jerk is
probably not going to have the desired effect of making us something different.
That’s where God comes in. We need someone to show us something is out
there besides rotting garbage and plastic bags. Since most of what we know
is the garbage pile, we need a helping hand to show us the way. We need the
Right Guy for the bad times.
So what does the Bible tell us about God in the bad times? Even a
very precursory search in a concordance using a few key words such as
“brokenhearted” and “heal” generates a huge list of passages that deal with the
subject. Here are just a few:
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those crushed in spirit.”
(Psalm 34:20)
“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” (Psalm 147:3)
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has
anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up
the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from the
darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day
of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those
who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the
oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit
of despair.” (Isaiah 61:1-3)
“He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our
So what does the Bible
tell us about God in the
bad times? Even a very
precursory search in
a concordance using a
few key words such as
“brokenhearted” and
“heal” generates a huge
list of passages that
deal with the subject.
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