Spirituality Classroom Blog
Do You Want to Follow Jesus?
“Come, follow me.” Jesus gazed intently at those who became his disciples, and said those simple words: “Come, follow me.” There was something in his demeanor, in the way he spoke, that caused Andrew and Peter, James and John, and all the rest to immediately drop what they were doing, in order to follow this unusual man who had suddenly appeared in their lives.
Jesus gazes intently at those in every generation who become his disciples. He gazes intently at you and at me. Sometimes we follow him instantly. Sometimes it seems we have to struggle to let go of whatever it is, that would keep us from following him – including the struggle of traumatic abuse in our church. But we are still drawn to those words. “Come, follow me.” We will find our healing when we follow Him even – or maybe especially when we are tempted to believe that our pain is more powerful than the Presence of the...
Is It Possible to Find Comfort While In a Trauma?
Today I'm thinking about one of my favorite Scriptures from Isaiah. It reads this way:
But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. (Isaiah 43:1-2)
This passage of Scripture has always comforted me. Even though I know that Isaiah meant these words for the people of Israel, I also hear them personally, as though the Lord is telling ME to “Fear not, because He has redeemed ME." And that no matter what life events come my way – even the traumatic ones – the Lord will never leave my side. Since I believe that that is true, I am comforted. And somehow my faith grows.
If we sort of back out of the Book of the...