Meditate on the love that Jesus has for you, this is the key, He is the way of escape out of every dark place. You might ask, how is that possible? let me bring some examples.
Think about the different accounts we have in Scripture of Jesus interacting with so many different people in various situations. Jesus never succumbs to the circumstances, He sees past the sin, past the accusations, past the sickness. Jesus knows this is not the whole truth. Circumstances change, our moods change, our perceptions change, people around us change. only Jesus sees the whole truth. Take the woman at the well, rejected by society, at the well all alone, she doesn’t feel loved or accepted and obviously keeps repeating the same mistake of choosing man after man only to end up in the same situation all over again. when she met Jesus, she didn’t know He was her Savior, she didn’t know this was a divine appointment but Jesus was ever so patient and walked her through her past and then got down to the heart of the matter – “if you drink this water that I give, you will never thirst again.”He was offering her – Himself! He revealed to her that He was her Savior, the Messiah, and there He was at this well talking to her! She ran and told everyone about Him and she was used as the instrument to bring salvation to an entire village! her life took a dramatic turn and suddenly everything was different!
How often has He come through for you? I think back over the past 30 plus years – I was in some desperate situations at the time all I could see was the problem, it may have been a sickness or finances, an argument, a misunderstanding, a drive to Children Hospital with my son any number of scenarios. At the time I felt desperate and didn’t see a way out but for certain, there was a way out and as I prayed and kept my eye on Jesus He led me, sometimes step by step.
You see Jesus is intimately acquainted with ALL of your ways, nothing is hidden from Him, and yet, and this is big – He is compelled by His love for you to work all things together for your good. He is calling to you moment by moment, in the midst of hardship, suffering, pain, confusion, addiction, sin, grief… He is always calling, “Come to Me, all you who are weighed down, because I want to show you the way out and I want to relieve you of these burdens but you must trust Me.” (Paraphrased from Matthew 11:28-30)
Remember how the disciples argued over who would be first in the Kingdom of God? I mean these guys were walking and talking with Jesus! They took their eyes off of Jesus and turned inward. They lost sight of their Savior. Yet Jesus didn’t reject them, He didn’t walk away and say, “forget it, you guys are useless!” No, He taught them. How about Peter? Jesus said, “I must wash your feet Peter” and Peter responded, “No way, I need to wash Your feet” that sounded good but it wasn’t, Peter was once again looking at what he could do not listening to what Jesus was saying. Jesus was basically telling him, “I have to make you clean – you can’t do it yourself, you have to completely rely on Me to do it!” once again, Jesus in His love works through the heart of the matter so Peter could eventually come to the realization after Jesus was resurrected at the beach encounter, it wasn’t how good Peter loved Jesus, it was how perfectly Jesus loved him.
how about the woman caught in adultery, she stood in the town square with her accusers encircling her, getting ready to stone her to death when Jesus intercedes. He turns the whole wretched proceeding into a lesson on facing the reality that we all sin and fall short of the glory of God – the woman is set free to live a new life, knowing Jesus quite literally saved her!
And Jesus still works in the same way, He is the; Deliverer, the Savior, the Rescuer, the Provider, the Healer, the lover of your soul. He is ever pursuing you because He loves you so incredibly He will leave the entire flock to come after you! This love isn’t here today and gone tomorrow, it’s eternal love. He loved you and knew you before you were born, He knew what this world was going to throw at you, He knew the enemy of your soul wanted to capture your heart and He was and is always working to get you to look at Him, to trust Him in the midst of the storm. It is His great love that delivered mankind from the state of sin we are all born into and how much more would He give to you when you ask? He will never stop, that is who He is. it is a journey though, not always easy but you can walk above the circumstances if you will keep your eye on Him. Ask Him, speak to Him for He is closer than a brother and sticks to us better than a friend.
Oh, love is a many splendid thing, and that love is the perfect all-encompassing love of Jesus! Look to Him today my friend.
Blessings and love,
Linda