Darkness. Silence.

When I was about eleven years old, I broke my arm. It was a nasty and complex fracture. Rehab afterwards was the worst part though. I remember during every physical therapy session, I would scream stuff like, “Why me, God? Why?” I really was asking God what I had done to deserve such pain. I don’t know about you, but sometimes life still feels dark and silent to me, as if God has forgotten about me or is just unwilling to speak. Jesus knows this better than anyone (Matthew 27:46). Jesus, the Word through whom all things were made, endured through the worst of punishments, taking on Himself the weight of sin He did not commit (1 Peter 2:21-24). He took the beating, spitting, and shaming all of this darkness, while the Father seemed to be silent and distant. But this was not the end. Jesus was the justice that would redeem all things. He was appointed by the Father to fulfill a mission: to live a life that set Him apart from the rest of the world and to submit Himself to an unjust death. In so doing, Jesus became justice for us. He was glorified and bodily resurrected, and now He reigns with a mighty, merciful, and strong arm. Jesus went through the greatest injustice in the history of the world, defeating death and injustice once and for all, giving us hope, and giving the world true justice. Yet, so often we shy away from God’s justice, which He tells us is to care for the least, the forgotten (Isaiah 1:17). We forget about God, maybe because we think He has forgotten about us. Very quickly we can give up on our mission and become distracted with the waves and the dark sea surrounding us (Matthew 14:22-33). Jesus’ resurrection points us to God’s justice, even when He seems distant and when all seems dark. Jesus gives us hope, for He will one day restore all things in our broken world (Revelation 21:1-5). And even now, He is with us in the midst of our hurts. • Andres López • How can you remember God is still there in the midst of the darkness and silence? • When it’s hard to approach God in difficult times, who is a mature Christian you can talk to? The Sovereign Lord has given me his words of wisdom, so that I know how to comfort the weary. Morning by morning he wakens me and opens my understanding to his will. Isaiah 50:4 (NLT)