Ouch! It hurts!

The world is full of hurting Christians.  Most were hurt by other Christians.  We guard against the non-Christians but are commanded by God to be open within the walls o the Church.  So we do.  We allow fellow Christians to enter our hearts and share our lives with us.  And we wiggle our way into their heart and share their lives.

We celebrate their victories and they cheer us on toward our goal.  We encourage them as they endure challenges and they steady us as we race through life looking for the prize.  We cry with them when they grieve and and they cry with us in the midst of our pain.  Over time, our lives become intertwined.  Our hearts beat as one.  Blood is thicker than water and the bond created by Christ's blood grafts skin to skin and life to live.  We become one with another.

Then we get sucker punched!

It hurts!

Can't breathe!

No where to run!  No where to hide!

Maybe it was a mistake?  I look for my friend.  To receive an apology.  She does not offer one.

Could this have been an accident because my "friend" would not intentionally do this to me.  But, he did.

They provide an excuse in place of an apology.  A reason is voiced in place of contrition.  I contort my face into a for-public-use-only mask to hide my hurt.  A fake smile is plastered to my face as I turn to slowly walk away.  No direction, just away.

It hurts!

Can't breathe!

No where to run!  No where to hide!

I stop, look around.  Try to catch my breath.  Try to sustain life.  Breathe in.  Breathe out.  Breathe in.  Breathe out.  In.  Out.  In.  Out.

Stunned!

In.  Out.

Ashamed!

In.  Out.

Questions.  So many questions.

I thought...  I thought... Then I felt!

I felt betrayed!  I was!

I felt discarded!  I Was!

I felt tossed away!  I WAS!

Where was God when this happened?

He was there.

He was with me as my life crumbled.

He was there.

He was sharing my pain as my world turned upside-down.

He was there.

He tasted the saltiness of my tears as they coursed down my face.

He was there.

He was holding my heart as it shattered to pieces.

His grace was poured out all over me.  Hi grace was covering me before.  His grace covered me during.  His grace covers me after.  He was there then and He is here now.  He loves me.  He loves them.  His love is special enough to be offered in pain.  To all parties involved.  To the one in pain and to the one causing the pain.  His grace is sufficient for all situations.

He does not want His children to fight, but He knows they will.

His grace is sufficient.

He wants us to love each other, but He knows we sometimes don't.

His grace is sufficient.

He wants us to forgive the hurts others have visited upon us.  Will you?  Will I?

His grace is sufficient to allow us to forgive.  Will you?  Will I?

Let's trade prayers.  Pray that I will have the courage to forgive those Christians who bully me and others.  Also pray that I will allow God's grace and love to become incarnate in my life sufficiently to allow me to trust enough in Him to let my guard down around Christians again.

Maybe not today.  Maybe not tomorrow.  But sometime in the future.  I trust God to lead me and to show me how to love again.