I would like to start with how deeply sorry I am that it has taken me this long to post something new. I have been really busy but that's no excuse. I hope that you can forgive me. Now let's get into it!
The title for this post is shortened. The full phrase is, “he took her by the hand and she got up.” This is a fraction of Matthew 9:25. I encourage you to read the full story but if you’re too lazy, here is the shortened version. A girl, maybe even your or my age, had died. Jesus insisted she was only asleep. He was mocked but he entered the house, took the (dead mind you) girl by the hand, and she got up. From the outside this may just seem like another Jesus miracle but lets dive deeper. Try to place yourself in this scenario. Brace yourself for some serious self-evaluation.
Are you the girl's family? Are you currently mourning a hard loss or a sick relative? Is it easy to forget that Jesus is there and can bring emotional, mental, or maybe even physical healing if you just let him enter your home?
Are you the crowd outside who laughed at Jesus? Are you not trusting his plan and getting in the way of the healing and light that he can bring into people’s lives?
Or are you the girl? Do you think you’re too far gone, been through too much, and made too many mistakes to be loved by the creator of the universe? Things change. Doors open. Light pours in. And a hand reaches out calling you to rise. Will you take it?
Well that would be a pretty dramatic way to end this but I'm not done yet! While you ponder the exponential amount of questions I just poured on you, I shall proceed to ramble on about how this relates to me. Between hardcore dance, lifting, and work, sometimes I collapse on my bed at night feeling kinda like the girl in the story, dead. I miss being able to be with my friends, I miss the phrase "I'm bored”, and I miss the nostalgic summer things I have been too busy for. Something I didn’t realize I missed was being with God. I've been spending less time with him than normal on account of me being too tired at night. I recently started a “truth wall” which basically consists of hot pink sticky notes placed randomly on a wall in my room. On the sticky notes are takeaways from sermons, quiet time, bible studies, etc. One caught my eye:
Things change when you spend time with God.
Huh. Believe me it's true. I was “dead” you may say but through that one sticky note, Jesus took me by the hand, and I got up. Things did change once I changed my ways. If you need proof, while I am writing this, my clock says 11:07. I feel like I just drank an Alani. Maybe it was just a coincidence. Or not. I’ll let you decide.