We really like to celebrate, don’t we? We honor each other on birthdays and anniversaries, we decorate and gather for holidays, we wear the colors of our favorite teams on game days…..we like to have a good time! I think much of that “good time” is because we share those special days with others – those with whom we have things in common; with people we enjoy and care about. I think it would be accurate to say we are “communal celebrators!” It somehow makes the special days in life sweeter and more meaningful to share with those we love. To be part of a community….a family. <3
I love that the first act of Jesus’ ministry took place at a celebration, a wedding. The whole village of Cana was most likely there; it was a small village and weddings were a big deal. Jesus didn’t barge in and interrupt the way they were celebrating – he just joined in and participated by turning huge stone jugs of water into wine – and very good wine at that. I’m sure all of Cana remembered that day and passed the story down for generations to come….it’s a great story!
Jesus did many other extraordinary things in the few years that would follow that wedding celebration. Scripture is filled with the teachings, the stories and the miracles that he is so well known for, but as we head into the next several weeks of remembrance of Jesus’ life, betrayal, crucifixion and resurrection, there is something else I’m taking great comfort in….
Jesus not only shared in the good times – the celebrations….but he shared in the suffering as well. He knows what it is to feel pain. He knows the sting of disappointment and rejection. He knows what it is to struggle in prayer and to trust God with incredibly difficult things. His life was hard! And because he experienced it all…. he knows how it feels. He knows how I feel….
Oh, how I’m grateful! When the feelings are just too big for words, he knows. When tears cloud my vision and my heart just hurts, he knows. When the future seems dim and trust is all that remains…..I know…..that he knows! <3
He Knows
Jeremy Camp
Endless striving day by day
You barely have the strength to pray
In the valley low
And how hard your fight has been
How deep the pain within
Wounds that no one else has seen
Hurts too much to show
All the doubt you’re standing in between
And all the weight that brings you to your knees
[Chorus:]
He knows
He knows
Every hurt and every sting
He has walked the suffering
He knows
He knows
Let your burdens come undone
Lift your eyes up to the one
Who knows
He knows
He knows
We may faint and we may sink
Feel the pain and near the brink
But the dark begins to shrink
When you find the one who knows
The chains of doubt that held you in between
one by one are starting to break free
[Chorus]
Every time you feel forsaken
Every time that you feel alone
He is near to the brokenhearted
Every tear
He knows
He knows
