Smile :)

           Lies hurt. Being failed by someone makes you feel terrible. Rejection tears you apart. “I’m sorry” doesn’t always cut it for some people. Life is going to have some emotional pain.

            If you’re like me, you deal with that pain in one of two ways. Sometimes, I’ll take my pain out on someone who’s innocent in the matter – generally a sibling. More often, though, I tend to seclude myself, remaining distant from everyone for a while. Even after I’m back to being sociable, it’s very hard for me to trust or openly talk to people again.

            Now you might be thinking, “Wait, wait, wait. Hold your horses! What if something inflicts emotional pain unintentionally? Like if they lie but couldn’t help it because something like sickness or parent interference came onto the scene? That can’t be as painful, can it? It can’t cause those extreme ways of dealing with pain, right?”

            Let me put it to you this way: if someone is swinging an axe and accidently chops your leg off, does it still hurt? Umm… YES! The same – at least for me – is true with emotional pain. It doesn’t matter how intentional something is, it will still hurt. It may be easier to forgive if it’s an accident, but it still hurts.

            Why do I say any of this? It’s simple.

            What holiday did we just celebrate? E… E-A…. E-A-S… E-A-S-T-E-R. We just celebrated Easter – Resurrection Sunday. Well, this Easter, I heard two fantastic sermons, and one talked about Christ’s victory in spite of our failures. That made two things really hit home for me.

One, we fail. A lot. Everyone does. Adam, Abraham, Moses, Samuel, David, even Jesus’ own disciples failed. Take a minute and look in your life. You don’t have to go too far back to see that you failed, whether it was failure to be diligent or failure to tell the truth or what-not.

That takes us to point number 2: Christ doesn’t fail. He never has. He never will. Go ahead and search the entire Bible. “But Jesus was defeated by His enemies, right? He died. He failed.” Stop. Read a little farther. He most certainly did not fail. And you know what? He takes failures like you, me, His disciples, David, and Moses and loves us. That’s the wonder of His grace. If we’re His and we fail but repent, guess what? He still loves us. It’s not like we fail and He says, “Oh. Not perfect. Can’t come.” No. He covers us with His perfection.

“Ok. That’s nice and all, but how does that help me?”

Let me ask you this: why do people fail? Why do people hurt others? Three words: “We. Are. Fallen.” Enough said. I know a lot about failure. I know a lot about pain. I know too much about rejection it’s not even cool. That’s why those sermons I heard on Easter were so uplifting. I’m fallen. Other people are fallen. I’m going to get hurt. Other people are going to get hurt. But when I do get hurt, I can run to the One who will never leave or forsake me. To the One who knew the torture He would experience and yet came to die – for a failure like me – to make me part of His family. To the One who did not fail. To the One who will never – NEVER – fail. (Never is a long time, in case you were wondering.)

Going to Christ, knowing what you know about Him, makes forgiveness easier. It takes depression away. It takes the pain away. It. Makes. You. Smile. :)

I’ve been having a rough time in my life. I’ve been hurt to the point where I never thought I’d share my secrets with anyone or love anyone again. (That sounds super dramatic, but it’s true.) This Easter, when I went to church, I had been hurt just that week. I was hurt, depressed, stressed, and done with life. And then I heard the two sermons that I did. And I started to cry. Yes! I’ll admit it! I. Cried. And I smiled. And I felt a happiness and a peace that I had never – NEVER – felt before. My pain melted away when I thought of His pain, His sacrifice, His glory, His love, and His promise.

I still have a pain-filled past. I still have a pain-filled future. But I also have a Savior who takes my pain away, who helps me forgive, who always walks with me, and who makes me smile more than anyone on earth ever can. He gives me hope for tomorrow. He pardons my failures and makes me part of His family. When I die, He will take me to live with Him. That’s why I can smile. That’s why I can laugh. That’s why I can’t stay depressed for long.

Oh! How I pray you know this Savior!