Jesus Always There

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.      John 1:1-2 (NIV)

Jesus is God in flesh. He is Emmanuel. Genesis tells me that all of God has been since the beginning. Genesis 1:2 says that His Spirit hovered over the waters. In Genesis 1:26, God speaks of Himself as “us”. Jesus was not a “great man” or “prophet”. He is God.

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.     John 1:3-5 (NIV)

If I wonder whether Jesus can understand what I am going through in my life, here is the indication. Jesus is my Creator. He knows every cell in me. As I read the gospels, I see Jesus living fully as a human, feeling pain, experiencing hardship and the death of those He loves. All my struggles He has walked through them.

In Isaiah 9, God tells us that He will send a Light into the world to show us the way. We are people walking in a dark world. We cannot navigate without His help.

Usually my husband, Henry, is an “early to bed” kind of guy. I am usually up to at least midnight. One night, I decided not to disturb my sleeping husband by turning on the light in order to negotiate the walk from the door to the closet. I tripped on a rug, bumped into the wall, and, need I say it – I woke up Henry! In retrospect, it might have been better to turn on the light and make a bit less noise!

When I follow Jesus, I am following the Light. When I am on His plan for my life, I am not tripping and running into walls. His Light shines in my darkness.

One of the darkest times of my life was when my 12-year-old son, James, was diagnosed with cancer. I could not imagine why it was happening. I did not know how I was going to explain “the why” to my son when I did not understand it myself. Not once in the next five years did James ask me “why”. I believe God took care of that question Himself since He was the only One with the answer; the truth. God never left me during that time and He is still with me today. Still listening, still teaching me, still comforting me, still healing me. His Light grows brighter as I have learned to trust and love Him more.

The darkness of the enemy cannot “understand” the power of God’s love. Satan cannot comprehend our relationship. He thinks that he can get me to blame God for James’ death. I thank God for James’ life that is eternal. The night James died I was reading Revelation 21 about the new heaven and the new earth. James looked at me and smiled … and left. Somewhere in Satan’s world there was yet another defeat.

…The kingdom of this world
Is become the kingdom of our Lord,
And of His Christ, and of His Christ;
And He shall reign for ever and ever

For ever and ever, forever and ever,
King of kings, and Lord of lords,
King of kings, and Lord of lords,
And Lord of lords,
And He shall reign,
And He shall reign forever and ever,
King of kings, forever and ever,
And Lord of lords,
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
And He shall reign forever and ever,
King of kings! and Lord of lords!
And He shall reign forever and ever,
King of kings! and Lord of lords!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!  from “The Hallelujah Chorus”, George Frederic Handel (1741)