Jesus Wept

I have a constant internal struggle that happens in my house about certain programming on television and whether or not it is appropriate for all ages, and sometimes, even for myself. Perhaps you might be wondering – what t.v. shows are the source of such angst?

The evening news.

To be completely honest, I am a bit of a news junkie. I listen to news radio in the car whenever I am all alone and no one is there to protest. I regularly read local and national news sources and I try to always watch the evening news reports. I do this because I like to be informed about the things that are going on in the world around me.

I also want this for my children. I want my 5th and 7th grader to be informed of current events and to be aware of the world that is beyond just us. Sometimes though, it feels like it is just too much.

School shootings, high-profile arrests, starving refugees, and all of the fighting and unrest all over the world. Everyone seems to have opinions on how to solve all of the different problems and they continue to argue about how to do it. Somehow in the midst of this, I have to look at the faces of my children and answer the questions they ask. Questions that have such innocence they break my heart. Questions like, “Why would someone murder their entire family?” “Why doesn't everyone share their food with the hungry people?” “Why doesn't everyone just stop fighting?” “What should I do if a shooter comes to my school?”

Then, the question that stops me dead in my tracks, “Mom, where is God in all this yucky stuff?”

Recently, when we were having this conversation I was reminded of the following verse:

John 11:35 ~ Jesus wept.

I believe that when all of these terrible things are going on in the world, Jesus weeps, just as we do. It has become a mantra that I repeat over and over again every time I see something happening in my community or world that gives me pause.

Author Brene Brown recently said in an interview that faith was more like a midwife than an epidural. She said that she sought out faith and the church when going through personal crisis and pain hoping that the church would provide her relief from the pain, and found instead that they sat with her in it, helping her through it.

I love this analogy. Jesus is love incarnate. God in the flesh. God sent us Jesus to show us how much he loved us.

As I sit and write this, I am celebrating my 14th wedding anniversary. One of the things that I have learned about love over the last 14 years is that it isn't easy, but it is worth it. Love is sometimes messy and ugly and painful, but if you aren't willing to take the risk, you will never experience the beautiful parts – and they are spectacular.

Loving God isn't always easy. (I'm sure God could say, “Right back at ya.”) It means we are entering into a relationship that can bring us more happiness than we ever might imagine, but it also means that occasionally we might get angry or we just might not understand. It means we might be called to do things we don't want to do. It means we may be asked to love people we don't want to love.

Sometimes things happen that we don't understand, and all we can do is be comforted in the knowledge that “Jesus wept” also. That God's heart also breaks when his children are hurting and that if we trust, we can be helped through the pain.

That is Good News.