Monday, May 09, 2005
The Darkness of Our Rooms
Frederick Buechner says we should invite Jesus into our past as into a house that has been locked up for years—to open the windows and doors so that light and life could enter at last, to sweep out the debris of decades, to drive back the shadows.
Now I’ve known this for twenty-three years. But for some reason I still keep Him out of certain rooms. The shame is too strong, the light too bright, the risk seemingly too painful. This is our dilemma. How do we totally surrender?
All of us want to move forward while looking back. No one wants to swing wide the windows and doors. And what shocks us and comforts us the most is the way Christ swung wide His arms and died for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8).
What kind of God permits a prostitute to wash His feet with perfume and rub them dry with her hair? What kind of God tells the most bizarre stories that made the villains into heroes? He partied with sinners. He convinced them to open wide their windows and doors. Then He covered them with so much grace, and we shake our heads and wonder, What kind of God is this?
www.stofel.com
Now I’ve known this for twenty-three years. But for some reason I still keep Him out of certain rooms. The shame is too strong, the light too bright, the risk seemingly too painful. This is our dilemma. How do we totally surrender?
All of us want to move forward while looking back. No one wants to swing wide the windows and doors. And what shocks us and comforts us the most is the way Christ swung wide His arms and died for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8).
What kind of God permits a prostitute to wash His feet with perfume and rub them dry with her hair? What kind of God tells the most bizarre stories that made the villains into heroes? He partied with sinners. He convinced them to open wide their windows and doors. Then He covered them with so much grace, and we shake our heads and wonder, What kind of God is this?
www.stofel.com
© 2007 by Robert Stofel
2 Comments:
Loved this, yes we all have rooms in our lives we don't want to go in, but in order to walk through doors that God has for us ,we have to get out of those rooms
This is really inspiring. I never really thought of inviting him into my past. I just thought I asked for forgivness than moved on, but you can't really move on until you have dealt with it? Who better to help than Him?
