Sharing Goodness: He is Good

I think that every person finds themselves in a different place at different points in their lives.  That's the natural progression of things, I think.  Different stages of life tend to mold us, turn us inside out, upside down, or even make us a little taller (didn't happen in my case, unfortunately).

Growing older brings wisdom.
It brings remorse and regret.
It brings pain.
It brings laughter.
Life always seems to keep on going, whether we're ready for it to go on or not.
Within a matter of seconds, the breath of life may leave one body and enter another.
And, within a matter of seconds, we may find ourselves in a state of exquisite joy or exquisite pain.

Life is hard sometimes.  Okay, a lot of the times.  We may struggle with physical, mental, emotional or spiritual frailties that can be so debilitating and suck the light out of our lives.  Sometimes it may be hard to see the light.  Sometimes it may be hard to see the joy.  Sometimes it may be hard to see God.

I've had times like that.  There was a time on my mission that I was so overwhelmed.  I had come face to face with some of my weaknesses that were hard to acknowledge.  I felt broken.  And I didn't see where the joy was.  I still have times like that.

BUT.
He knows.
He understands.

And while I don't fully know, while I don't completely understand....I know enough to reach out, reach up, and turn to the One who can make us whole.

The Carpenter of Nazareth

In Nazareth, the narrow road,

That tires the feet and steals the breath,

Passes the place where once abode

The Carpenter of Nazareth.

And up and down the dusty way

The village folk would often wend;

And on the bench, beside Him, lay

Their broken things for Him to mend.

The maiden with the doll she broke,

The woman with the broken chair,

The man with broken plough, or yoke,

Said, “Can you mend it, Carpenter?”

And each received the thing he sought,

In yoke, or plough, or chair, or doll;

The broken thing which each had brought

Returned again a perfect whole.

So, up the hill the long years through,

With heavy step and wistful eye,

The burdened souls their way pursue,

Uttering each the plaintive cry:

“O Carpenter of Nazareth,

This heart, that’s broken past repair,

This life, that’s shattered nigh to death,

Oh, can You mend them, Carpenter?”

And by His kind and ready hand,

His own sweet life is woven through

Our broken lives, until they stand

A New Creation—“all things new.”

“The shattered [substance] of [the] heart,

Desire, ambition, hope, and faith,

Mould Thou into the perfect part,

O, Carpenter of Nazareth. 

("Broken Things to Mend", Jeffery R. Holland)

When we are bruised. 

When we are broken. 

When we are less than whole. 

He is there.  

He always has been, and He always will be. 

He is good. 

And, for right now, that's good enough for me.