You and I

You and I, we don't need to be alone. Whatever the situation, whatever the sorrow, whatever the pain, the Lord wants to give us to each other, to be companions and comrades and co-belligerents in spiritual warfare, to stand or sit together in the darkness and point one another to the light that sometimes seems tiny, to the light that will, on one glorious day not too long from now, break through and flood this broken world.  Jesus, acquainted with sorrows, still marked with the scars of his suffering--Jesus will reign!  No sorrow, no sin, no confusion, no pain, NOTHING will overcome that love.  And, honestly, nothing will overcome it today.

To know we're not alone, to know we're not alone even "only with God"... to know that we need to be honest.  The Holy Spirit longs for us to be really real with one another, to not hide our sorrow or brokenness away in a dark corner, to shatter the fake strongholds, to come out, to stop pretending that we're always okay.  There's nothing more lonely than living a lie... and those lying façades don't only make you or me feel alone, they also keep others in the dark.  They think we're doing just fine.

God is calling you and I to honest living.  I am praying that Crossroads can be a place for honesty.  The same goes for this blog I call "equal sharing."  Let's be real together.  Let's rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.  And let's BE those people who dare to rejoice or weep, as the case may be.

It's time to let one another in.  It's time to give up the false front.  It's time to come, with two or three or a dozen others--it's time to give up the desperate and wearying attempts to hold the transforming power of God at arms length.  Let go and let God!  And let your brothers and sisters see you!  Stop fighting so hard by yourself!  Let God be God and let others be brothers (and sisters). When you and I do that, in Jesus' name, the Holy Spirit comes in... and His presence, soon or later, will bring REAL joy.  Then songs and praises will be as real as tears.

That's the kind of church God is calling Crossroads to be. A place where you and I don't need to be alone.

P.S. ... For a bit more in the same vein, take a look at the video you'll find at Where You Can Be You.

(Pastor Bryan Lowe turned me on to this topic today.  See "Rainy Day People" and submit a comment if you dare.  I did.  I appreciate Pastor Bryan so much.  He is one of the most courageous people I know.)

www.equalsharing.com