He Stayed

*Today’s Thursday’s 3/20/14 Writing prompt : Stay

This prompt is inspired by themes of Lent. Week #3 of {The Journey Series}, the journey to Easter.

 

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I’ve had people wander in and out of my life. Friendships that I thought would last forever, but didn’t. Romances that ended. Distance and time swallowing up what once was…..and I am left wondering why they didn’t stay? All of us crave relationship. We weren’t created to “go it alone”.  We long for someone to hold our hand and heal our heart. People to tell us that we are not really all that weird, and things will be okay. My husband tells me often that he is not going anywhere. He is staying.  It feels safe to know that he is willing to stay in my corner with me, through it all.

Even those of us that grew up feeling loved and wanted, and have strong families and good marriages, still have to face hard and difficult things in this life. Rarely is the face that others are allowed to see, the same one that reflects back to us in the mirror. You know what I mean. We hide the ugly parts. The broken dreams, the hurt, the desire for something different. The feelings of inferiority, indecision, and ignorance.

We can’t hide anything from Jesus…..and we don’t have to. He already knows. He sees the broken and picks up the pieces. He hears the whispered dreams and He reveals that He has plans for you. The feelings of inferiority are replaced with the word, valuable. Jesus promised to stay. He promised to never leave nor forsake.

He didn’t have to stay.

He chose to.

He left the joys of Heaven to come to this earth. God walked among people. He did not come to condemn (we do that already!) but, to seek and to save. We needed Him, we were desperate for a Savior…..even if we didn’t know it at the time. He could have left at any time, but He didn’t. Let that sink in for a minute. He loved you enough to stay. He willingly placed Himself on the course toward Calvary. He was beaten, taunted, scourged, spit on, and jeered at. He was brutally nailed to a cross, a torturous Roman execution. He was God and could have called the multitudes of Heaven to His rescue. Instead, He stayed…until it was finished.

He built the bridge between God and man on that day.
Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. Luke 23:46