Listen As Jesus Would

By |Published On: April 28, 2021|Categories: 4-Minute Radio Program, Hope & Inspiration|
Close up of little neutral-colored flowers.

Hi, I’m Joni and sometimes a song says a lot more than words.

You know, once in a while, a friend will ask me to call a loved one of theirs. Someone struggling with pain or cancer or some other serious illness. And often when I do make such phone calls, I spend a lot of time just – I don’t know – just listening. Just hearing what’s going on in their heart and how I might be able to help. Occasionally, the pain or the sorrow is so great that, on the phone, I’m at a loss for words. Once when I was talking on the phone with a Christian woman in the last stages of Lou Gehrig’s disease, I knew that the best thing I could offer was simply the comfort of Jesus in a song. ’Cause sometimes an old hymn can reach far deeper than words, and so this is what I sang:

 I must tell Jesus all of my trials, 
 I cannot bear these burdens alone; 
 In my distress he kindly will help me, 
 He ever loves and cares for his own. 
 I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus! 
 I cannot bear my burdens alone; 
 I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus! 
 Jesus can help me, Jesus alone.  

You know, after that last note, both of us on the phone were silent for a long moment. But I could tell that she’d been calmed and encouraged. I mean, this woman was already a Christian, a seasoned believer. She knew the answers. But on the phone that day, she wasn’t looking for answers; she was looking for Jesus. She needed a touch from the Savior, and pointing her to him was really the best thing, the only thing, I could do. ’Cause when your heart is being wrung out like a sponge, an orderly list of the “sixteen good biblical reasons as to why all this is happening” – although those reasons might be good and right and true – that orderly, tidy, neat list of biblical directives sometimes can sting like salt in the wound. Rarely is suffering a matter for the mind; most often, it’s a heart issue. It’s that deep, that painful. And when you hurt that bad, you don’t stop the bleeding with answers. They will come later, but in an acute moment of pain, they can often come across as dry and mechanistic. 

It’s why I always say, we must never distance the Bible’s answers from the God of the Bible. ’Cause the problem of suffering is not about some thing, but Someone. So it follows that the answer for suffering must not be some thing, but Someone. Answers are for the head, and they don’t always reach the problem where it hurts – that’s in the gut and in the heart. But Jesus reaches us where no one else can reach. He goes where no doctor can go. He goes where no surgery can be performed. He goes where no medication can touch and no counselor can tread. No one helps the hurt like your wonderful Savior, the Man of Sorrows acquainted with all your grief and pain. If someone you know is struggling through a disease or a divorce or the death of a loved one, point them to the Savior – with your testimony, your words of encouragement, a shared memory, a poem, a Scripture passage or, if you can, sing a hymn. The answer to our deepest longings when we hurt is Jesus, who heals every deep-down hurt. 

© Joni and Friends

The Gospel in Hard Times

The Gospel in Hard Times is a small-group study that explores how a loving faith community—one body with many parts—can not only meet our needs, but also help us walk alongside others who are afflicted, disabled, and marginalized. Eight-session study guide with leader’s notes and discussion questions included.

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