Running along side...

    Jesus is the answer to every problem of the human heart.
    This morning I believe that.
    Just a few evenings ago, I didn't.
    While I was shedding a few tears several  nights ago over some "unanswered" requests, unknown to me,  God was even then  changing at least one circumstance.

    I recently told a friend that if we could visibly see the love of God - if it were something tangible streaming down from Heaven to earth like  rays from the sun -  I felt sure  that  all our conflicts with each other -every single one; all our heartaches -every single one; and  all our faith struggles - yes, every single one beyond question - would simply melt away.  Disappear.  Vanish.

   Wrapped in a blanket of His love, warmth, peace, and joy... how could I hate anyone - even those who have hurt me or my loved ones?  Wrapped in His acceptance, how could I wallow in self-reproach for the wrong things or stupid things  I've done (of which there are plenty...)? Basking in  His overwhelming compassion, how could I question  His motives regarding those mysterious times when  I have asked for all the right reasons  but He has seemingly not given?  

   When someone is running in the Olympics, we know how to cheer them on and encourage them with our words, our tweets, our FB updates,  or even our presence. And we do that because we want to do it. Because it is something that blesses us even as we bless others.  

    Jesus also knows how to encourage His children and He is present even now as I write this,  watching each of  us  run our daily race.  When we stumble, He is there to cheer us on because He wants to be. When we rely more on His Spirit than we ever thought we could and faith it more profoundly than ever before, He rejoices and celebrates with us. When we suffer an injury, He is there to heal us.  When we have pain that goes deeper than any human answers, He is there -  where logic cannot reach - to quiet us with His embrace.

   However  because we do walk by faith and not by sight,  there are those times when we need other runners to come alongside of us and cheer us on as well.  We need them to point us toward the finish line, to remind us to "look up" to our faithful but for now, invisible, God and  to tell us to hang in there!  To remind us that in  returning to Him in quietness and trust we find our strength - if we are only willing. (Isaiah 30:15)

   Christians....
         Christ-Followers.
              Faith-Walkers.
                  Cheering each other on....
That's where I want to be today.