Each Monday we gather here to celebrate ways that Jesus has walked with us in the past week. I call my Monday posts, everyday jesus: seeing him in the daily-ness of life. #everydayjesus. Because, friend, life can get pretty daily, can’t it? We can get so numb to the hum-drum daily-ness of life that we completely miss Jesus as He walks with us. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to miss Jesus. I want to be present and accounted for, as my friend Jan says, when Jesus shows up.
As I asked the Lord what today’s everyday jesus post should look like, I sensed Him directing me in a bit of a different path. A path of reminding how present Jesus is in the midst of trials. I have several friends who are walking tough roads right now; very tough roads:
- The home of one of my friends was damaged by the recent snowstorm we experienced in the South. Their money tree has dried up (yours,too??), and they have no means to pay for the repairs.
- Another dear friend’s daughter-in-law, the mother of three pre-teen boys, was found dead at home last week.
- Yet, another friend is dealing with dementia in a father, and a father-in-law.
- Cancer diagnoses
- Career changes
- Marriages in trouble
- Daughters marrying their girlfriend.
The list of dire and heartbreaking situations is endless. Why? Because we live outside of Eden. This was never the way God intended for it to be. But, it is the world in which we live. Consequently, there is a question that slips to our lips in the middle of these times.
In the midst of your worst pain, where is Jesus? Is He ‘everyday jesus’ for others, but not for you? Has He forgotten your address, or lost your telephone number? Did the joy-train make its last stop miles before it got to your heart? Does it seem that God’s grace and mercy have run out for your situation? So, where is Jesus in it all?
May I assure you that Jesus is in heaven doing what Jesus does best. Hebrews 7:25 tells us that Jesus ‘lives to intercede for us’. Romans 8:26 reminds us that
‘in the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.’
Allow Psalm 34:17-19 (ESV) to remind you that Jesus is close in the middle of your mess.
When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
Jesus has not failed you, nor has He forgotten you. The triune God is intimately present, and actively working in your pain and trial. I know this is true, because He has done it for me. I may not have realized it in the moment, but as the trials lessened, I could look back and see Him right beside me. Today, if you are walking through trouble or trial, I pray that Jesus makes Himself very present with you in your pain. I urge you to look for Him in the daily-ness of your life. He is there.
