hurting

Coventry Carol

Karla LeesLeave a comment

Lullay, Thou little tiny Child,
By, by, lully, lullay.
Lullay, Thou little tiny Child.
By, by, lully, lullayb

The days in which God determines Jesus was to arrive here on earth were tremulous ones.

Great political unrest, overtaxing, long hard days forced to serve ‘landlords’ not of your choosing. Revolution was constantly simmering when it wasn’t breaking out against the oppressors.

God’s people were crying out for their Messiah.

When Herod began the slaughter of all the boy children of Israel in the hopes of destroying the newborn King, many families were suddenly grieving and wailing and grieving over the sudden loss of their children.

For you know who hoped to stop God in His tracks, in a feeble attempt to undermine His will, but a very costly one to those left with empty arms and wounded hearts.

Many likely thought all hope was lost.

And into that exact time and place, God chose to deliver His people through Jesus, soon to be delivered into the world as one of His people, as well as His Beloved son.

God did not let the madness of one fearful king halt the delivery method He was choosing to set His people free.

We know that God has always heard the cries of His people for deliverance, and mourned with them over their losses. The Bible is full of true life stories of His rescues.

If you are empty armed, missing your loved one, whether they have passed on or are on the other side of the country or world?

God hears your pain and lament.

I believe this song must have been written by someone who lost a child, and was horrified by reading the account of Herod killing an entire generation of boys.

We all should be, for God was horrified by it as well.

So full of compassion for His people, He sent His Son to us, to give us a beacon of Hope we could reach out and touch.

Because our God is the God of all comfort, justice, hope and compassion.

He couldn’t turn away from the cries of the brokenhearted. The frustrated. The poor. The exhausted. The empty armed. Those grieving. Those without hope.

This Christmas, if you hear this song of lament, be reminded of His compassion.

Each person ever in history has mattered to Him.

Those you have lost or had taken from you included.

Jesus came as one of the weakest to show us that weakness does not mean God cannot use you.

He came as one of us to show us that God understands the frailties of humanity first hand.

He came as an expression of God’s great love for each and every one of us.

And is right there beside us when we are hurting, feeling lost, wavering in our hope, and needing a God would can reach out and hold us as we lament.

So if you need to cry this Christmas, for it isn’t the holiday you thought it would be?

Allow Him to rock you in His loving arms as you lament.

God came right smack dab in the middle of turmoil to be there with us, for us, as one of us.

That same Love has not changed, and never will.
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Historical Background:

This lyrics for this piece were written in 1534 for a Christmas pageant by Robert Croo, the composer is still unknown, but believed to be in the early 1500’s.

cry of the broken

Karla LeesLeave a comment

Can you hear it?

The cry of the broken.

It comes in two variations.

The wail of those who cannot take any more, many who have reached the end of their strength and do not know where to turn.

The hurting hearts.

The lonely.

The ones who didn’t quite earn enough to cover all their needs, so are going hungry for a meal to make sure they have heat at night.

Those who grieve over losing a loved one, loss of job, loss of home, loss of innocence.

The abandoned, cast aside for a younger model.

The discarded, as they no longer serving a purpose.

Those suffering with illnesses and physical pain, almost unbearably so.

The ones longing to be noticed, appreciated, loved.

They live among us.

Our coworkers.
Our neighbors.
Our family members.
Us.

We are the broken.

We are the ones crying out, in desperate need of somebody to notice us.

And God does.

He hears the cry of the broken.

He stretches out loving arms, waiting:

To embrace all who come to Him.

To call them by their true names

To reveal His overflowing love to them.

To bind their wounds, heal their hurts.

To move in with them, so they will never be alone again.

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There is another kind of broken God responds to as well.

Its the brokenness of those who realized they have had enough if doing things their way, and are willing to give over their pride, and be broken to follow as God leads.

This can be almost as painful as the brokenness of a lost one, save one major difference.

Being broken in the drawing close to God reminds us of just how holy, amazing and awesome He is.

And He is with us.

All the time.

Darlene Zschech, worship leader in Australia, released a new album inn the past few months: Revealing Jesus. One of the songs she sang, Your Name, reminded me of whom God is- our strong tower, shelter, our saviour.

During the song, she broke into a spontaneous song:

You hear the cry of the broken
You hear the cry of the broken
You hear the cry of the broken

You answer the cry of the broken
You answer the cry of the broken
You answer the cry of the broken

And one thing struck me to theme core about those words, especially the first time I heard them.

God is active, in the now, in that song.
He is hearing, He is answering.
He IS all that we need.

If you are broken, and crying inwardly or outwardly for relief, try turning to God.

Knowing you are so loved, and He is with you always may not immediately change your situation, but it will change your perspective and final destination.

He hears, He answers the cry of the broken.

He can’t help it. He is love.

hurting people hurt people

Quote Karla LeesLeave a comment

Keep in mind, hurting people often hurt other people as a result of their own pain. If somebody is rude and inconsiderate, you can almost be certain that they have some unresolved issues inside. They have some major problems, anger, resentment, or some heartache they are trying to cope with or overcome. The last thing they need is for you to make matters worse by responding angrily.
Joel Osteen

thurteen

Karla LeesLeave a comment

There are a great many hurting people around.

Recently I reheard the saying,
“Hurting people hurt people.”

And it got me wondering.

You see, for the first years of my life, I didn’t grasp that my family was made up off hurting people, like me. I picked up on emotions, but not necessarily what was the driving source behind them, as a child and preteen.

Somehow, the year I turned thirteen, I got it.

We moved a year earlier from one province to another, and like my brother, we had to start over with a new neighborhood, friends and school. We had lived in a great place our last few years before moving, and life was good.

We moved mid school year, an awkward time for anyone to move, so I wasn’t quite 12, an gawky all legs no tushie French speaking preteen who was in her ugly duckling stage.

It wasn’t until grade 8, when I turned 13, when I understood how hurtful my peers could be.

There was a writing assignment we had to complete where we described a fellow classmate, which was read allowed for the class to guess which of us the description described. One of my best friends described me as the homeliest girl in the school.

The written word can hurt, I learned that day. A lot.

Our mutual friend tried to play peacemaker, but the writer didn’t care that she had hurt me, and as result I withdrew. Which I found out, years later from the mutual friend, was due to her insecurity and jealousy over my friendship with the peacemaker. The writer wanted her for herself, and succeeded by wounding me in the process.

Fast forward to my first fight with my husband. Neither of us had been taught how to fight in love.

The spoken word can hurt, I learned that day. A lot.

I had wounding in my past that needed to be addressed, forgiven and released so I could heal and move on. So did my husband.

Hurting people hurt people.

I believe that almost every time someone hurts me, they are likely hurting too.

I know quite well that every time I hurt someone, I am hurting within.

Thirteen was the year where I grasped this concept.

It took thirteen more years before I understood how big a role grace plays in soothing our hurts, those of the wounders and the wounded.

That’s why I refer to that year as ‘t-hurt-een’, the hurt teen.

I had been hurt before, but it took me until thirteen to comprehend why.

Hurting people hurt people.

Bind up your wounds before you wound another. If more of us did so, we would have less wounders and wounded hurting.

Less hurt sounds pretty good to me. How about you?

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