I Can't Hear You

Today's Power of a Praying Woman desktop calendar reads: “You don't have to live with confusion or mental oppression. Instead you can have clarity and knowledge. Even though your enemy tries to convince you that your future is as hopeless as his, or that you are a failure with no purpose, value, gifts, or abilities, God says exactly the opposite. Believe God and don't listen to anything else.”

I smiled when I read "Believe God and don't listen to anything else." I smiled because I had this picture in my mind of a little girl getting teased who has put her fingers in her ears and repeats "I can't hear you. I can't hear. I can't hear you"

There are many thoughts we hear inside our mind every day. These thoughts, or voices, can range from mild self-dissatisfaction to severe self-hatred and self-condemnation that can produce depression and suicidal thoughts. Regardless of how subtle or how obvious the messages, their intent is to convince us we “are a failure with no purpose, value, gifts, or abilities.”

Let's learn to effectively ignore all the voices that tell us we can't do this or that or we're not this or that. And if we have to, let's stick our fingers in our ears and repeat, “I can't hear you. I can't hear you. I can't hear you.”

Jesus Had to Trust God

Jesus knows what it is like to have to trust God. Today is Saturday, the day after Jesus was crucified on a cross and died. His followers buried his body in a tomb that had never been used before. And today, his body still lies dead in that tomb. There is absolutely no life and no power in it. Jesus is unable to do anything.

As I ponder the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus this year, I realize I have missed something. I’ve missed the day in between the Passion and the Resurrection. All these years, I have missed what this day can tell us. This day speaks to us about the trust Jesus had in His Father. Jesus trusted His Father to not leave Him in that grave. Jesus said, “I’ll die for the sins of all mankind. And I will trust You, Father, to not leave me dead in that grave. I will trust You to give me life and raise me from the dead.” Jesus had to trust God.

Jesus Knows

I just returned from a candlelight communion service at my church where we shared with others how we met Jesus and what He means to us. Jesus is not only my Savior and Deliver, He is also my Healer and Sustainer.

As I anticipate Easter Sunday, I meditate tonight on the very human side of Jesus. The Bible tells of the Passover meal Jesus shared with His disciples and that after the meal, He went to a garden to pray. Jesus knew what was about to happen. He knew He would be arrested, tortured, then nailed to a cross and die. His prayer was a request to His Heavenly Father to come up with a different plan. Jesus was so overwhelmed that the Scriptures tell us His sweat had blood in it. He was experiencing so much anguish that the capillaries and blood vessels in His face broke mixing blood with His sweat. Yet, even though He was the Son of God, no alternate plan was discussed or offered.

In this garden experience, we see Jesus suffering in ways we suffer. Sometimes there are things ahead of us we know we will face and we ask God to do His God thing and change the circumstances for us. Yet, like with Jesus, He does not grant us our request. Instead, He strengthens us for what is ahead.

I see Jesus wrestling in prayer with God the way I sometimes wrestle with Him. I see Jesus asking for something else than what God has planned and I do this quite often. I see Jesus in agony over what He wants yet chooses to obey God in spite of His pain. Sometimes I am in agony because I want God to decide something different for me. Jesus knows exactly what we are going through because He has been through the same thing.

The writer of the book of Hebrews writes about how Jesus is the perfect Savior for us because He knows what it is like to be human. He has experienced the human experience and He knows what we go through to live life on planet earth. I am extremely comforted that Jesus knows what it is like to be me. He knows how weak my humanity can be. He knows what it is like to feel the war that goes on inside me when I want what I want and it’s different than what God wants.

The good news for all of us is that we are never alone. For those who know Jesus as their Savior, they have a constant Lord , Savior, Deliverer, and Healer Who is always there. For those who have not yet accepted Jesus as Savior, He is there waiting for the invitation to be in a relationship. He longs to give us the strength that His Father gave Him so that we can live in a way that pleases God.

Thank You, Jesus, so much for loving us and dying for us. You give us life and healing and hope and we love You. Amen.