Shadow cast

a star born at Christmas

a great source of light

 

destined to cast

a shadow

 

in the shape of a

cross

 

 

(24/12/99)

Jesus said your divorce was one of the reasons He came…

I was thinking about the theological arguments that surround divorce; the time spent pouring through scripture to find justification for various circumstances surrounding the failure of a marriage. And there is some interesting stuff going on there. But that’s not what I want to talk about now. Before you go too far down that road, you have to start at the beginning. More specifically, you need to start at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry:

In his first public statement since being baptised and anointed for ministry; His first ‘quote’ while speaking in the public eye was this (Luke 4:18):

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised…

He came to heal the broken hearted, deliver those who are captive, bring sight where there is blindness, and make free those that are bruised…

That sounds like a divorce recovery program like no other!

In our desire to define the theology, let’s not forget that our loving Father sent His Son to this world with the desire (and ability) to heal our broken hearts.

Hearing from God

A friend was asked a few questions about ‘hearing from God’ which he passed on to me, and I enjoyed having a go at them. They’re fairly big concepts really, and I got thinking too, what it meant to me to ‘hear from God’ when I was ‘walking in divorce country’.

When I think back, I know one of the most significant times (ever) that God chose to speak to me (through someone who was willing to listen to Him on my behalf) was the night before my wedding anniversary – the first wedding anniversary after being separated. So, in the darkest place, really. And God’s timing was perfect…

He used the words of this person encourage me to grieve, but more than that, to grieve and ‘walk on’, not stay in this dark place. He said he would ‘inject light’ into the dark room I was waiting in, He would pour water onto the dry ground, and He would lead me toward healing. I was reminded to stop and listen to God, always. To take time and space with Him, and not to try to do all of this on my own. And most of all, to remind me just how much God loves me.

They’re not unusual metaphors, but they’re very real encouragements. We do often sit for too long in a dark room, and we need someone to open the door for us. Lift the blinds and let in the light.

I’ve never really thought much about the phrase ‘blinds’ but it’s interesting isn’t it – the covers we use to keep out the light are called ‘blinds’. We think it’s safer in the dark, but really, we’re just avoiding the light. The light might reveal, which is hard, but there is grace. A lot of it! And we will heal. It’s only when we can honestly face our situation and let Gods light, and love and grace, shine on it, that we can begin to walk toward healing. And walk past that healing into the new life He offers us.