Lent #32 (Thursday, April 10th)

Isaiah 61:1-4

She gets me. Somehow through all my quirks and personality, she simply gets me. She understands where I'm coming from  (most of the time), why I'm hurt, angry, disappointed. She knows what to say, when to keep quiet (knowing that sometime I just need to be in my mood), and when to just hold my hand. Peggy gets me. It's one of the many reasons we have been married 32 years and still remain best friends.

There is something powerful about the understanding we get from someone close to us. The comfort that a word of encouragement, a hug or a simple squeeze of the hand can bring is inexplicable and, well...comfortable. When we are hurting and broken we need someone there.

"The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, 

because the Lord has anointed me; 

he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, 

to bind up the brokenhearted" (Isaiah 61:1, NRSV)

This prophecy of Isaiah was quoted by Jesus saying that he had fulfilled it. That means he is the real source of gladness, comfort to the mourning, release to the prisoners, good news to the oppressed, and binding the broken hearted. In other words, Jesus wants to be the one who is there for us; promises to be the one here for us; to be our comforter, encourager, and best friend. And when we let him be that for us (and this is our choice to let him or not) we can experience a true peace.

But there's one more thing (and probably many more than that), once we experience the comforting touch of Jesus to bind up our brokenness, we tend to become better at doing the same with others. We become a conduit of sorts to comfort our spouses, children, friends, even strangers simply because of the work of Jesus in us, because...

...Jesus gets us.

Prayer: Dear Jesus, you understand me more than I understand myself. You know my hurts and challenges. You know my weakness and where I feel the most broken. Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask you to stay close by me forever and love me, I pray.  Amen.

Peace ><>
Pastor Chris