This season, we’re blessed with a set of Lenten devotionals by contributing author Lee Hinkle.  Find out more about Lee at the bottom of this article, or at hinkledownunder.com.

Reading

John 11:1-37 (ESV)

Meditation

There are times in our lives when darkness seems to engulf us; times when hope seems to be the last possible thing that we could imagine feeling. Often it sneaks up on us when we are not looking. It can take our breath away with how quickly the intrusion into our ordinary lives creates a new normal for us to live in. We end up marking time the rest of our lives with the arrival of this uninvited quest; Before (fill in the blank) and After (fill in the blank).

For some of you, there does not seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Some of you have a nagging feeling in the pit of your stomach that you may have weathered the first part of the storm, but something larger is approaching. And still some feel confident that you were able to overcome this “minor interruption,” but in the back of your mind as you drift to sleep doubts begin to creep in.

So do we have hope? Yes, Jesus walked this path with us. His life wasn’t interrupted, because He knows all things; but when He, as a man, felt the magnitude of the loss of Lazarus, He wept. And he weeps with us. He gives us permission to be undone. And He holds us there.

Prayer

Jesus, thank you for grieving before us, with us, and for us. You make a path through our loss to light. Keep us in your hands, because it is hard for us to believe that there is good during this part of the journey with you.

We need your strength.

We need your hope.

We need your faith.

We need your obedience.

Thank you for giving it to us. Amen.

Lenten Action

Many of us have been taught to hide our sorrow or hurt. Jesus does not want you to hide anything. He gave us our emotions to draw us toward Himself. Take time today to cry. Cry over your sin. Cry over a relationship that has ended. Cry over a loved one who has died. Cry and know that Jesus is present and weeping with you.
• • •

Lee Hinkle is an American pastor who, with his family of 7, felt God’s call to pack up and plant a church in Fremantle, a town in Perth, Western Australia.  Last Summer, the Hinkles left Indianapolis and arrived in Oz to begin their work.  You can follow their adventures at hinkledownunder.com.