2-1-2017

Good Morning All,

           Psalm 6:2; “Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled.”

     We watched one of my favorite movies last night; we watched “Forrest Gump”.  It has some of the greatest lines ever written.  There was one that struck me this time.  When Forrest’s love interest Jenny came back home and stayed for a while.  They went for a walk and ended up at Jenny’s old home.  It was rundown and abandoned.  She walked up to the house and stared at it for a minute and then started throwing things at it.  First her shoes and then rocks.  She soon collapsed and began to cry.  Jenny grew up with only an abusive father and then a grandmother that, apparently, was not a whole lot better.  As she collapses, Forrest walks up and then kneels down and holds her close.  The narrating Forrest says, “sometimes, there aren’t enough rocks.”

    Jenny was trying to exorcise her painful past.  She threw her shoe and then rock after rock until she could throw no more.  She threw rocks until she couldn’t but she still languished in her pain.  Sometimes, there aren’t enough rocks.  She slumps to the ground still in pain, still with no relief.  She doesn’t find comfort until the one person in the world who loved her without question wrapped her in his arms and held her.  In the short portion of the movie, we see a snapshot of our life in faith.

     Many experience pain that does not go away.  The death of a child or of a spouse causes incredible pain.  I’ve known people who experienced both at the same time and they were knocked down and even when they tried to throw the rocks; there weren’t enough rocks.  Sometimes, a relationship, like a marriage or a sibling, is supposed to last forever but it can break.  We can experience the ups and downs of fears, stresses, losses and anxieties.  We experience them and we fight them but we use the wrong weapons.  Some use drugs or alcohol, some use anger, some build a wall around their heart to avoid pain.  Some simply surrender to the pain and languish in their hurt, silently fading away.  Some try to use their own power and might and throw rocks but that always ends up with us falling down, exhausted and still languishing in our pain.

    It is only when we receive the comforting and loving embrace of our heavenly Father that we find comfort.  It is only by clinging to him by faith that we know of his grace.  Through faith, we look to God to revive us, to enliven us to give us hope.  Through faith, we look to God to heal us.  There are not enough rocks but there is enough grace to lift us from our languishing.  There is enough love to heal.  Cling to God’s love and let go of the rocks.

Father, we suffer the battles of this world.  We struggle with the cares of this life and can be crushed.  Send us your strength, send us your mercy.  Heal us so that we may be restored.  Be with those who suffer and have run out of rocks.  Send them the comfort and hope that they so desperately need.  Comfort them with your mercy.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret