Hebrews 4:14-16
Now that we know what we have—Jesus,
this great High Priest with ready access to God—let’s not let it slip
through our fingers. We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our
reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all
but the sin. So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready
to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.
Scripture
quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002
by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs,
CO. All rights reserved.
A few nights ago, our power
went off about 11:00...just as we were getting ready to go to bed. We
really don’t realize two things: 1) how “lit up” our world is 24/7; and
2) how noisy life is now. We think we are in the dark, but with
electronic devices and technology, there is still quite a lot of light
in our house even after we “turn off the lights” at night! Even this
night when the power went off, a smoke detector in the ceiling still
blinked an intermittent flash of green light! But for the most part,
the world was very dark...and very quiet. We do not realize how much
noise the “hum” of our electronics, heaters and air conditioners and
other devices create. And honestly, this “white noise” has become so
much a part of our being that we don’t know what to do without it!
I
was reminded of when I was a little girl and my siblings and I would
spend the night at the farm with our Mam-ma and Pap-pa. They lived “in
the country” – some five miles out of town on a dirt road. There were
no street lights...not even a “night watchman” pole in the yard. When
the lights went out at their house each evening, it was dark and very
quiet. The only noise was the steady tick-tock of their mantle clock,
which chimed the half hour and the hour. I had a terrible time going to
sleep at their house. The clock seemed so loud in that stillness, and I
remember tossing and turning in their unfamiliar four-poster bed...and
longing to drift off to sleep.
I’ve reminded myself of this with
Timothy...and especially with Zola and Nathan, who have not spent as
many nights at our house as Timmy has. To expect a toddler to lie down
in a somewhat unfamiliar place – in the dark – and close his/her eyes
and go to sleep is asking a lot. So I’ve tried to be empathetic – at
least to a point – while recognizing that they MUST get their rest! I
know how hard it is to try to go to sleep...and be unable to do so. So I
try to sit with them, stroke their hair, rock them, or do whatever I
can to provide an environment that they feel is safe and comfortable.
Sometimes they don’t want this help...probably because they have figured
out the end result. Part of why these kids can’t sleep at our house is
that they are afraid they will miss something!
Once in a while I
will have one of the children say, “I don’t want to rock,” or “No, I
don’t want you to lie with me.” They let mercy and help slip through
their fingers. And this is what we often do with Jesus. We either fail
to recognize His offers to help us...or we turn our backs on Him and
try to do things on our own.
A prime example of this would be
how we often react to grief or a fearful situation – ours or someone
else’s. It’s as if we are ashamed to be sad and show our
emotions...like we think this makes us appear weak or lacking in faith
somehow. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Jesus wept over the
death of His friend, Lazarus. He sweated drops of blood as He pled with
God to find another way besides the cross, if possible. He gets it
when we grieve, are sad or afraid...because He.has.been.there!
He wants to comfort us in our despair or trepidation. He wants to
acknowledge our frustrations, our loneliness and our disappointments.
Jesus wants to sit beside us, “stroke our hair” and soothe us through
the rough spots - just as much as He wants to cheer for us when good
things happen!
Too many of us have turned Jesus into “white
noise” of our lives. We have shoved Him into the corner where He is
nothing more than just the “battery-powered blinking” of a household
security device or the hum of an electronic gadget. We have not fully
embraced Him and all that He offers us. For whatever reason, we have
neglected to take the mercy and accept His help. But we don’t have to
stay stuck there. We can change. It starts with a simple
prayer...”Come, Lord Jesus”. Isn’t it time you called on Him? Aren’t
you ready for a good night’s rest in His love and care? Will this be
the night that you begin?
©2014 Debbie Robus
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