Hug for the Hurting

There's so much pain around.  So many wounded people, people who've been hurt, people who have gone through deep sorrow.  So much pain.

I am so relieved that God hugs us in our pain and sorrow.  He doesn't just watch us from a distance, no, He cries every tear with us and feels every hurt.  He weeps with those who weep.  Jesus was a person who understood what it was like to hurt and to grieve.  He is our place of healing, the only place of healing for all our troubled memories, anguish, regrets, wounds, and losses.  His heart is big enough to contain all the sorrows and problems of the world, big enough to contain you and me.

He will be our strength for us when we feel so weak we can't go on.  He will be our joy for us when we feel sapped of every good emotion.  He will be our healing for us when we feel wounded beyond repair.  He will be our light for us when we feel only darkness all around.  He will hug us and love on us in the midst of whatever life throws at us.  He has conquered this world and its problems, and He and His love will win in our hearts.  No evil can fight against grace and win!  Love wins.  And Love has an eternal hug for the hurting.  

"...there's something about His eyes and His voice.  There's something about the way He carries His head, His hands, the way He carries His cross - the way He carries me."                      Frederick Buechner

"We are buoyed up and carried on by a life greater than our own."
                                                                     Brennan Manning

I'm being hugged and carried today!  You, too...
May the amazing grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, and the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you. 2 Co. 13:14