Sometimes I am weary of this world.

Often I adore this crazy beauty that surrounds us. There is much to love, much to be grateful for.

Every once in a while, however, the brokenness of it all begins to weigh heavy on me.

My former pastor shares that he has cancer.

Blood work comes back and tells me I must take my daughter to a specialist.

The vitriol in the politics on my Facebook makes me just close my eyes.

There are no easy answers. For all of its goodness, the fact remains that we have sinned and thus infused our world with darkness.

The ugliness we see around us is here until Jesus returns.

The good news for right now?

He is here in the meantime.

God came down to live this same life in the midst of the brokenness.

God died on a cross so that we can be with Him now through forever, so that we can be part of Him making the ugly beautiful again.

God stayed here with us, to walk with us through the darkness. More than that, to be light inside of us that cannot be overcome by the darkness.

So as I feel the heaviness press down, I don’t try to escape the hurt of this world.

Rather, I try to lean into it as God did, knowing that He is working through me to heal.

Knowing that in the end He will heal it all perfectly.

And all that will remain will be beauty.

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Art credit: The Holy Night by Correggio; photo of Christ on the Cross statue by Asta Rastauskiene; Pentecost by Mildorfer