“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me; holy is his name.” Luke 1:46-49
(NOTE: For the past decade, I’ve been praying for and asking several men and women who I have known and admired to assist me with writing devotions for Trinity HOPE. Recently, Pastor Keith Enko from Nashville stepped onto the retirement escalator leading to Heaven and shared a few devotions. They were handwritten and handed to Denise Gudlin who put them into a Word doc and sent them to me. And today I am sharing one of them with you. Warning; Keith is a much better writer than me. Enjoy.)
Around the turn of the 20th century a new form of music began to emerge in our culture. It was a sad and soulful music based on the experiences of people who had lived hard lives. It was called “The Blues”.
A Professor of Blues in Memphis, has written a humorous guide called, “How to Write The Blues”. He brings out that not everyone can sing the Blues and that singing the Blues is not about the color of your skin, but about luck. As examples he states; (1) Breaking your leg while skiing in Aspen is not the Blues; Losing your leg to an alligator in a Louisiana swamp is. (2) Dying in a bar fight is a Blues death; dying while having liposuction is not.
He also points out that no matter how tragic your life is, if you own a laptop computer, you cannot sing the Blues. It doesn’t even matter if, as he puts it, “Your big ol’mean woman done sat down on it. It is still not the Blues.”
My point with all of this is that if your faith is truly in Christ Jesus, it is impossible for you to sing the Blues. According to this Professor of Blues, Mary Magdalene certainly appeared to be able to sing the Blues. This woman whom Jesus had casted out seven demons had a very hard life. Then this Man who turned her life around and gave her hope was crucified like a common criminal.
Mary, the mother of Jesus could also sing the Blues. She had lost her son to an angry mob. She saw Him become a man who changed so many lives with His teachings and miracles. Then heartbroken, she saw Him suffer and die on a cross. If any woman ever had a reason to sing the Blues, it was Mary.
Simon Peter was another who could sing the Blues. He let down his best friend, the One Man in all the world who believed in Him. Jesus called him a Rock and said that He would build His Church on such a faith as his. Well, that rock crumbled under the pressure of the crowd. That rock fell to pieces as Peter denied ever knowing Jesus, three times. The same could be said of all of Jesus’ followers who saw their Lord and Master suffer and die on that cross.
However, Jesus’ resurrection changed everything for those people and for every one of us. For it proved everything He said and did is true. He is the Son of the Living God. And He has indeed destroyed the power that sin, death, hell, and satan has over us. He has restored the relationship between the Almighty and Holy God and all of humankind. He gives life, true life, eternal life to all who trust in Him, a life that will be celebrated to it’s fullest in heaven. Simply put, He made everything right that was wrong. Yes, He has made everything right that was wrong. Yes, He has made all things new!
When you truly know this truth, this Gospel of love and life deep within you; when you know Jesus like this, it is impossible for you to sing the Blues. All those followers of Jesus who saw Him lay down His life on that cross understood this when they saw the Risen Christ. And because of that, their whole life was changed. We can see that so clearly in Scripture. Many of Jesus’ followers were persecuted and killed because of their faith, yet that couldn’t make them sing the Blues.
Many would consider the conditions of those living in Haiti to be unbelievably horrible. These people are living in abject poverty, facing hunger, gang warfare and many other threats. Yet from what I have read and seen, those being touched by the ministry of Trinity HOPE have no reason at all to sing the Blues. For the tomb is empty, and for them, as well as us, that means that love conquers hate, light conquers darkness, and life conquers death. What we all must hold on to is that our God is bigger than anything that comes along in this life. So think about it, are you singing the Blues or is Jesus making that impossible for you?
Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you,
Keith Enko