Be Careful What You Ask For

Today's passage from Mark 6:14-29 wasn't easy for me to read. All week I've been on an emotional high. Yes, my body has been tired and yes, my mind has been busy, but my spirit has never been so rejuvenated.
So when I'm asked to read and reflect on the beheading of John the Baptizer, my spirit goes, "Why?, we were doing so good." 


There's always a why, though, isn't there. Sometimes we go through lots of pain and suffering before we can understand the why, and that makes the pain grow. Our parents fight everyday and we feel like it's our fault - why? People outcast and ostracize us - why? We are abused by the hands, actions, and words of people we thought loved us and would never harm us - why? We become addicted to drugs, alcohol, porn, self-image, money, and so many other things - why? 


Those are the questions in life we long to understand. Just as in our story for today we ask why did John have to be so brutally put to death and displayed in a show of complete dishonor. Because of one woman's hatred? Because of one man's promise? Because of one young lady's seduction? Because of one man's devotion to his God? 


Why?


The answers come, my friends, but we may not like what we hear nor will we always be prepared for what the answers mean for us in our lives. What may help is knowing that God asks the same questions we do about the pain and suffering we go through. God doesn't want bad things to happen to us and shares in our grief when they do. God doesn't make bad things happen to us, but rather is there beside us to share in the pain and walk with us on our journey towards healing. 


I found comfort in reading the final verse of today's passage. 6:29 says, "When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb." The final act of this horrific story is that of a love so strong nothing could have stopped the right thing from being done in the end.


This is the love our God has for us. Believe in it, embrace it, let it flow through you, and finally share it with everyone around. Somewhere out there someone is hurting and needs this love.