“Somewhere Over the Rainbow” is a song from a movie that expresses what many of us think when we are slogging through difficult situations. It brings to mind this idea that somewhere things must be ideal. They must be Utopian. They must be like heaven. In other words, other people whose lives appear to be put together MUST have an easy life. They must not struggle, journey through difficulty, or experience tragedy, loss, or crisis, right?
Wrong. Everyone has some trouble in their lives. The older we are, the more likely we are to have experienced dark times. The way people perceive each other doesn’t represent truth. What we see are barriers that have been carefully erected around the external façade so that pain, grief, heartache, confusion, depression, anger, addiction, etc., is less obvious. Expressions of these emotions leave one feeling weak, vulnerable, and out of control, so we hide. Raw emotions, when freely expressed with no boundary, are subject to judgment from others (and ourselves) as to how overt, noisy, active, passive, shallow, deep, or lengthy the timeline of allowable expression should be.
In a book I am reading, the essence of hurt and grief is described beautifully, as are the promises of God:
The remarkable promise that comes to those who believe in and follow Jesus as their Savior is that He is the great comforter.
Psalm 34:18 tells us, “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
It takes faith to fall into the arms of Jesus. We feel we are doing a trust fall…leaning back and hoping like the dickens God is who He says He is and will catch us. But as I have said millions of times before, mostly due to my own testimony, God is faithful. He will catch you, and He wastes NOTHING.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
God’s comfort, which fills us up, we can, in turn, spill onto others. When I can offer some figurative soft pillow for someone to land on when they hurt, it gives me renewed comfort from, praise for, and trust in my Savior. Jesus saved me – not only from my own sins, but also from any eternal effects of a sin-filled, broken world full of pain. It comforts me to know my trek through the mire isn’t wasted. The journey made me strong enough to offer someone else hope that they, too, could trust fall into the arms of Jesus and be caught.
The Beatitudes, or “Beautiful Attitudes”, are a list of character traits the world doesn’t exhort as powerful and desired, but as Jesus spoke them, He conveyed the Lord’s honor for them:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven….Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven.” Matt 5:3-12
Take a second to evaluate the character traits in red and the rewards in orange. The rewards are for us as individuals, for those who feel the brokenness of this world. They are our great hope! If you embrace the traits Jesus lists and ponder each reward, you see they start now, in your heart…this side of the rainbow.
Difficulty and sadness are inevitable, but with Jesus, so is comfort, joy, and purpose.
*Excerpts from Theo of Golden, by Allen Levi, Pp. 372-373
