This is for Larry Chastain.
Larry Whitehurst.
Dawn Pitchford.
David Overton.
Dee Ann Hallmark.
Thomas Barrett.
Priceless people, much younger than me, whose last visit I had with them was over a casket.
This is for parents and grandparents, girlfriends and boyfriends now long since somebody else’s spouse, little brothers and sisters who once were left as only children.
This is for Caden Trethewey and Elizabeth Rodes. Two children I will never meet in this life whose stories profoundly touched me, and I think will touch you.
This past Saturday, Elizabeth was born in South Carolina. Both her parents, Will and Kelly, are on staff at Newspring Church in Anderson. She was nine inches long and weighed 8 ounces – a victim of anencephaly. Without asking for it (who would?), Will and Kelly discovered what so many before them have – that Jesus Christ came to heal the brokenhearted.
Here’s Will in his own words:
I wish that I could describe the presence of God that was with us in that hospital room, but I can’t. Even if you know Jesus, it would probably defy your comprehension, like it still does mine. It is just one more thing in life that I don’t understand, but I do know that God is sovereign and He reigns over all of this and all that is to come.
This is not the end of the story, but rather the beginning of a great work.
You can (and should) read his entire reflection of the story here.
The Tretheweys tell their own story in the remarkable video below.
Years ago Wayne Watson recorded a song that still touches a nerve in me.
Jesus, He meets you where you are.
Jesus, He heals your secret scars.
All the love you’re longing for,
All the love that you need is found in
Jesus, the friend of a wounded heart.
Jesus. No one else can heal your pain like He can. You can look to people, and people can help. But they can only do what people can do. You can look to drugs, and sometimes they can help. But they can only do what drugs can do. You can look to self-discipline or self-control, but all you get is what you can do. But when you look to Jesus, and learn to appropriate His healing and strength in your life, you receive all that He can do.
He meets you where you are. Constantly throughout His life and ministry, Jesus Christ proved that He was willing to go where hurting people were. He didn’t sit in the Temple and wait for them to track Him down. He went to the highways and the byways, to the painful places and even the sinful places to touch the lives of hurting people. Know what? He still does. Whatever the pain, and whatever caused it, Jesus is willing to meet you right where you are.
Chris Trethewey’s words again:
“I kinda laughed the first time I held Claire. But it was kind of a laugh to say, ‘God, I get it. You’ve just called us to follow You. Not to make sense out of all this stuff going on. Not to understand it.’ And so as I held Claire for the first time, blown away by just the miracle of birth, it was just God saying, ‘I am with you. And thank you for following me. Thank you for walking by faith.'”
He heals your secret scars. We all know that the deepest hurts aren’t physical, but emotional and spiritual. Physical pain and sickness is bad enough, and the scars they leave are testimony to their power. But even more devastating are the secret scars – the wounds that have been left on the heart. Jesus Christ can detect, diagnose, and heal the secret scars that others don’t even know about. You don’t have to be a monument to yesterday’s wounds!
All the love you’re longing for… So many emotional wounds can be traced back to a need and a longing for love. In each of our lives is a desire to be loved just as we are. Wouldn’t it be refreshing if somewhere there was someone who knew everything there was to know about you, and loved you anyway? Well, there is, and His name is Jesus. The One who knows you best loves you most.
The friend of a wounded heart. Try telling your troubles to some people and they will run. Others will listen sympathetically, but helplessly. Others will “tolerate” you for a while, then quietly disappear. But Jesus is actually a friend of brokenhearted people. And He wants to be your friend, also.
The longer God lets me live, the more hurting people I encounter. Saved and lost, young and old, male and female, parents and children, rich and poor… we are living in a desperately hurting world. Some of the people you encounter every day have pain that you know nothing about. And if I understand our role as Christians correctly, our responsibility is to be the life of Christ in the world today. If Jesus is a friend of wounded hearts, we must be also. Let Him know you’re available. Finding someone who is hurting will be the easy part.
And if you’re one of those whose heart is broken, please know… I care. We care. But we care as those who can never fully understand or even appreciate what you feel. But we do know Somebody who does.