He Weeps

I was doing my devotion today that we got last week at Link. (I know, I should have done it last week, but I was entirely too lazy.) Anyhow...this girl, Sarah Anderson, sure did write something that relates so strongly to me right now. She talks about how, in the Gospels, Jesus encountered incredibly broken people and He healed them--crippled men, blind girls, deaf boys, and bleeding women. Then she makes a good point: What happened to those people after they we healed? We see how they were healed powerfully; what once seemed like a permanent brokenness was reversed; their story takes a turn and things look up. But what happens 20 years down the road?? When they die? Sarah says that, for her, it's like she's living the second half of these people's lives. Not many miracles, terminal cancer is thriving. The second part of their stories shows a lot of things still need restoring-or need restoring again after having been fixed once but not staying that way for good. Kinda like when we were saved. We once felt like our lives had changed forever-but after a while the broken pieces still feel so broken. Jesus showed up at one point- but in the second half of the story, it is hard to imagine He was ever there at all. Sarah goes into the Lazarus story. Jesus goes to the tomb where Lazarus had been dead for 4 days. So He goes to the sisters, Mary and Martha, who are crying, and Jesus weeps. He cries. He knows what He's about to do--He is the Son of God, the Savior of the world with the power to heal and restore, to fix and redeem. And He weeps. Could it be that Jesus cries because He knew the second half of Lazarus' story? He knew that while He could heal bodies and fix hurts and restore pain today, there would come a day when bodies would break down, the hurts would return and the pain would be overwhelming. Maybe Jesus wept because of the second half of the story-because He knew that today would only accomplish so much. Tomorrow the brokenness of the world would be obvious again. But that didn't stop him. He was saddened but He healed in spite of a broken world. He redeemed in spite of a broken world. He fixed in spite of a broken world. Which means that the second half of my story doesn't have the final word. It doesn't make what happens in the first half, in the part where I give my life to Jesus, where Jesus does do a miracle, not count.
As broken as out world may be, as far from restoration and healing appear to be, if we look closely we will see glimpses of the same God who went about His work on the pages of the Gospels. Any glimpse of beauty, no matter how temporary, is a glimpse of a world to come. Any respite from hurt, no matter how temporary, is a glimpse of a world to come. And any picture of any kind that speaks of perfection and goodness, wholeness and healing is evidence of a Savior who has been here before and will return again. And the good news is that His return will last forever.

How does it make me feel that I know I'm so incredibly loved by the Savior who came down to this incredibly broken world just so that I would know how much I mean to Him?? I am left in awe...completely longing for that day....and try my hardest to not get caught up in the issues of the world. There's nothing but empty promises. But with Jesus, there's hope! He can comfort the mourning. He can raise dead men to life. He has the pwer to conquer every disease and dysfunction. And while we may get a picture of that now, a brief insight into how the world is supposed to be, we can be certain that there will be a day when Jesus no longer weeps outside the tomb of His friend. When death is no more, when sickness is healed forever. Until then, keep your eyes open for glimpses of hope. Because that is where Jesus lives until we see Him again.