Say So

Dedicated to everyone who has ever invited me to their table, patiently listened to my stories, and sometimes rants, offered tissues and coffee, prayed with me and for me, and bravely helped me get professional counseling. Thank you for teaching me compassion, prayer, and believing with me that abundant life in Christ is for me. Your jewels await you in heaven.

”Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever!

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.“

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭107‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Come, sit. Be welcome here. Remove your backpack of trouble for a moment. And breathe.

How about something warm to drink?

A snack?

What troubles you, my friend?

What is there for me to say?

It is better for me to listen.

I want you to have a safe place to rest. Your words are safe here. You can tell your story. I will listen.

And I will pray.

Silently.

While you tell your tale of woes, I will be asking Jesus to come and be fully present at our table. And we, Jesus and me, will listen to your story together.

He is an amazing listener. He is a comfort to those who are uncomfortable. He’s hospitable and gracious to the hardened heart. Bitterness and revenge, He doesn’t take any of it personally. He’s not offended.

And that’s why I ask Him to come. To be present. Because, I’m sorry, I have to be honest with you sometimes words hurt my feelings. But when I intentionally remember that Jesus is present, I remember how He looks at you with such compassion in His eyes. My offense , if any, dissolves in His flood of compassion.

What is there for me to say?

What is it that you would be able to hear?

It’s better for me to listen. I want to hear your story. Best of all, when Jesus listens, He already knows your past, present and future. Yet He still wants to hear your story in your own words. He wants to hear how life feels to you. What you see with finite eyes and hear through a tainted and painful filter, that’s what He’s really interested in learning from you.

Because here’s the win-win for all of us, He knows all the details of every situation from every perspective. He is familiar with all the feelings and He is well acquainted with our pain. He’s walked in our shoes. He knows, and understands the temptations that threaten in the midst of such chaos.

And the victory for us is that He already resolved the problem of death and darkness. He took all of the wrong, the injustice, and sinful behavior, wicked thoughts and bad words into Himself on the cross. Jesus paid the price of our bondage and He suffered our sentence so that forgiveness would be ours. Now as we receive the gift of freedom and forgiveness, we get the opportunity to extend the same to others.

None of us deserve what Jesus offers us full and free, and so even as those who have trespassed against us are not deemed deserving, we still get to extend the same level of grace which we have received from God.

And because I have been in a pit. No, you’re right, I probably haven’t been in your same pit, but a deep, dark pit designed just for me with seemingly no way out. And because I am still here to testify that Jesus came down, heard me, offered to walk me up and out, I can say so. I get to listen as well. I get to climb down to you only because I know He’s climbing down in our midst. And I get to believe with you that He is listening and offering a way out.

”Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.“

John‬ ‭14‬:‭23‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Maybe that’s all too much for right now. But think about His response to Your pain. Would you consider His great compassion and love for you right where you are living?

Your story is important. Thank you for trusting me with it. I’m here to listen again or to help you find a professional counselor. I am here to read God’s word with you and to pray. He is in our midst. He is the shalom in the room.

I say so. Because I know His shalom in my life.

And His shalom is available to you where you live and in your car or at your work place. Because if you invite Him, Jesus will join you in your life. He will make His home with you. He will breathe life into you, which is His shalom.

Go in peace, my friend, and I’m asking Jesus to go with you. I hope you will invite Him to stay.

”But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.“

‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭26‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Live love brightly,

Lisa