Sacred Ground Ministries

One of the profound and beautiful gifts of life is its natural tendency to weave itself into a story. No matter if we try to do this, are ashamed of our story, or don’t think it’s a very interesting one, it is there, and it’s there waiting to be told. Our stories are made up of quirky and shy and goofy and mean characters that we call beloved, mom, dad, sister, brother, friend, stranger. Parts of our story happen to us by circumstances that come out of left field and other parts we happen to by making big and small decisions that shape the course of our days. Sometimes our story is hard to put into words and other times it pours out in unlikely places, like the seal of a jar finally being cracked open for the first time.

Lately I’ve been feeling some parts of my story building pressure in my chest, wanting to come out. Maybe it’s the fact that I spend large parts of my time these days bearing witness to the precious and real memories, struggles, and questions of those that come in for counseling. It has been a beautiful, albeit hard, journey learning how to show up and how to speak into some very dark places. I feel incredibly privileged to be able to do what I do because I realize the deep bravery it takes sometimes to even whisper out the parts of us.

When I think about this idea of our stories, its fascinating to think about how everyone has had one and that each story has meaning. Even Jesus in all of his raw humanity, with chapped lips, calloused hands, and a tender, real beating heart. I could honestly just cry thinking about my Savior in this way because of how much I can touch Him, how very real He is and how very real His identification with the mess of life is. More than that, how very real His identification with my mess of life is. The pressure in my chest goes down, as I begin to breathe in and out, just like Jesus did.

There is something so important and moving in the act of telling our story to another person. I really believe that. It is powerful and sacred to fully own the person you are and to allow another person to be there with you. But when language fails to fully communicate all of the stuff of life and we can’t even think how to begin to invite another person into our space, then where do we go?

I want to offer that in those moments we run to the one who hears us without the need to say a word, who knows the depths of our hearts when even we ourselves do not. As much as I believe and am fully committed to honoring the stories of others and being a helper, there are times when human fragility and finiteness come to bear and in those moments there has to be something greater.

There is left the One who chose human fragility and finiteness, who chose human flesh. And because he has the power to choose, it means that his power is great. He is great enough to take on humanity and resist the allure and incredible pull of sin, but willing to take on the very realness of life, the stuff that hard hours in the therapists office are made of. It is incredibly meaningful that Jesus did not choose to ignore difficult relationships, sickness, death, and betrayal but instead embraced it as a part of what it means to become flesh. This means that our stories are safe with Him, because his heart is our very heart, full of deep compassion and understanding because of His human nature.

Thankfully, though, the depth of who Jesus is doesn’t end with his human identification and with his ability to know hearts and minds. His coming into the world was for a greater purpose, the ability to actually transform the brokenness, actually give meaning to our lives because they are of unspeakable worth to God. Jesus chose to become a participant, not a spectator in the stuff of humanity so He could understand and save. I find these words below to be very helpful in understanding the dual mission of Jesus.

“God the Son did not become man to stand where unfilled Adam had stood, leaving our corrupted, estranged humanity ashamed and unhealed. On the contrary, God the Son became man in our sinful flesh, in our fallen nature. He penetrated the depths of our darkness to seize the ruined, wrecked humanity and make it his own, to re-create and reorient our humanity by taking it to himself–by taking it into the very life of God in the God-man. In this way, our Lord restores the ruptured relationship between God and the redeemed.”

“The Incarnation of God” by John Clark & Marcus Johnson

In understanding this we can understand who Jesus was, one whose choice to take on human flesh gives humanity inherent worth, dignity, and validates our stories and one whose choice to then die for humanity gives abundant life. In both His life and death, Jesus has done something special, costly, and saving. He both knows our hearts and searches our hearts, offering the redemption of our stories and of our very lives.

Lovingly,