Sometimes it’s Okay to Not Be Okay





Jesus came to help the broken, the wounded, the ‘not okay’.  The people in the Bible who viewed themselves as ‘strong’ were the ones who really didn’t reach out to Jesus and, in their pride, didn’t see their need.  And how did Jesus respond to them?  Jesus passed them by, those, who in their arrogance, thought themselves ‘better than’. 

Instead, Jesus went to the broken, the sick, the blind, the needy, the dying.  He went to those people who knew they were not okay…and everyone else knew it too.  They saw Jesus up close and personal, and they knew they needed Him.  They were not afraid to show their pain, their scars, and their flaws.  They looked on with hope when the King of the Universe stopped for them, looked at them, talked to them and offered his hand and his heart.  Those were the ones he befriended and redeemed.  You see, the ones who thought they were ‘okay’ were really the ones who lost out, eternally.

The Bible is full of people who were struggling in life, in the grief, loss, and pain of the ‘daily’.  Could it be, that God included these stories of people who didn’t quite ‘have it together’ to encourage us that He’s not asking us to make ourselves perfect in order to come to Him, but that He takes us as we are, and makes us into His beloved….because only He can do that.  Maybe the pain, grief, and difficult days are the catalyst meant to push us closer to Christ.
If loving and following Jesus meant that we’d always be strong and solid, it would give an inaccurate picture of our humanity and an inaccurate picture of just how far Jesus’ salvation and redemption will reach. 
Loving Jesus CAN make us strong and solid, but the greater beauty is that loving and following Jesus carries us when we just can’t be strong at all.  Jesus is a God for ALL situations and struggles, not just triumphant ones.  So go on, admit your weakness.  Show your vulnerabilities.  ‘Fess up that you’re circling the drain and have nothing left.  Don’t let others tell you you’re sinning if you’re feeling down, defeated, or weak.

Be like the woman who just reached out to touch the hem of his garment.  That’s all she could do.  But in her faith, she knew that’s all she needed to do, and Jesus would do the rest (Matthew 9:20-22)

Admit it, sometimes you’re not okay.  Reach out to Jesus and trust that He’ll walk beside you through it and His strength will be all you need.  


Rest in that. 

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