The earth is no stranger to tears

There are times when we feel that we are alone in the distress we are experiencing. However, it soon becomes apparent that there are so many others who are dealing with their own unique pain and sorrow. There is a measure of consolation in this, as we may become more sensitized to the plight of our neighbour and friends. 

When D.L. Moody wrote about some of the pain he was witnessing in Chicago, he said:

"All over this city are broken hearts. If all the sorrow represented in this great city was written in a book, this building couldn’t hold that book, and you couldn’t read it in a long lifetime.

This earth is not a stranger to tears, neither is the present the only time when they could be found in abundance. From Adam’s days to ours, tears have been shed, and a wail has been going up to Heaven from the brokenhearted. And I say it again, it is a mystery to me how all those broken hearts can keep away from Him who has come to heal them."

It is Moody's emphasis on Christ that should strike us as being important. He is not suggesting that tears and broken hearts are unusual, but rather that people still don't choose to turn to Jesus in their distress.

Psalm 34:18 - The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

I encourage us all to allow Christ to heal our pain and to dry our tears. He is willing to do so.

Living in Grace

D3LM3

It is better higher up

 

A few of you have asked for a copy of this story that I used in my sermon last Sunday. It is such a beautiful reminder that we have something amazing to look forward to. With Christ in our lives there is always "better higher up!"

The famous preacher D.L. Moody told about a Christian woman who was always bright, cheerful, and optimistic, even though she was confined to her room because of illness. She lived in an attic apartment on the fifth floor of an old, rundown building. A friend decided to visit her one day and brought along another woman -- a person of great wealth.

Since there was no elevator, the two ladies began the long climb upward. When they reached the second floor, the well-to-do woman commented, "What a dark and filthy place!" Her friend replied, "It's better higher up."

When they arrived at the third landing, the remark was made, "Things look even worse here." Again the reply, "It's better higher up." The two women finally reached the attic level, where they found the bedridden saint of God. A smile on her face radiated the joy that filled her heart. Although the room was clean and flowers were on the window sill, the wealthy visitor could not get over the stark surroundings in which this woman lived. She blurted out, "It must be very difficult for you to be here like this!"

Without a moment's hesitation the shut-in responded, "It's better higher up." She was not looking at temporal things. With the eye of faith fixed on the eternal, she had found the secret of true satisfaction and contentment. - Our Daily Bread.

Job 36:15 - But those who suffer he delivers in their suffering; he speaks to them in their affliction.

Proverbs 23:18 - There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.

Living in Grace

D3LM3

The confidence of a friend

When we are blessed with good friends we know that we can confidently ask them almost anything and they will go out their way to help us. Is this the way we view God? Are we able to approach him with the confidence of a good friend?

"We are to ask with a beggar's humility, to seek with a servant's carefulness, and to knock with the confidence of a friend." - D.L.Moody

Proverbs 18:24 - One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Living in Grace
D3LM3