Dear you,

Yes, you. The HURTING one.
I see you. Carrying on every day, with your warm, desperate, yet wholesome hugs and your believable plastic smile, trying to convince everyone that life’s good, all the while spitting out words of wisdom; oozing out encouragement in all your encounters.
I hear you. Every night, on your tear-stained pillows. Sometimes below the towering showerhead. Sobbing. Breaking down because of past traumas and current heartbreaks that expose your fragility.

And to you, the ANXIOUS one.
It sure is not easy being in your shoes. I know, because the slipper fits. Perfectly in fact.
I know how worried you can get about the future and how crippling that can be.
Oh, and let me not get started with all those ‘wise advisors’ who keep telling you, “Imagine, just stop feeling that way and you’ll be fine“. Trust me, I get why you often choose isolation over relation – people can be selfish and conceited sometimes. It’s not your fault. Though, I won’t forget to remind you to take care because the enemy maximizes on that. A lot.

To you, dear LONELY one.
Sigh. Surely, what can I say to make it better, or seem that way, at least?
I can feel the deep longings of the fragments of your heart. Those of having deep emotional connections, yet finding none that outlives the vast sea of loneliness. I can see the walls that you have built up in pretense of ‘guarding your heart with all diligence’. I can taste the bitterness and brokenness that sometimes erupts when you have to act like you’re okay being alone. I know how you feel – lonely. Just know that even though you feel that way, you are not alone.

And most especially you, my dear FEARFUL one.
Wow! I really have a lot to say to you. I’m not even sure where to start.
I know this journey has been daunting and exhausting, and the path ahead does not appear promising (at least in your eyes). I know fear has been your closest kin. And I know, after all those intimate years, you think you cannot exist apart from him, fear.
I see how the ‘what if I fail‘s and ‘maybe I’m not good enough‘s are robbing you of being the best you that you can be and of giving people your best self.
I know you know that, but you just can’t help it. Why? He, fear, has a grip on you, an inviting one – with the constant worry and the dreadful expectations – and that in particular, has blinded you from the true realities and joys of everyday life.
I see you.
I hear you.
I know you.
I know all this about you because, in a way, I am you.

Despite all the pain encountered, my friend, remember: That’s only H.A.L.F of the story – the Hurting, Anxious, Lonely, Fearful half.
A half that is full of lies and labels.
False labels that the enemy generously gifts us with to slowly, but surely, drown us in guilt and sorrowful shame. In isolated defeat.

But oh, dear friend, even in the depths of that half, no… ESPECIALLY in the depths of that half, I’m here to beckon you, to beckon us, to boldly cry out, “No more, FEAR! No more!“

I write all this to usher you into the other half of the story. The better H.A.L.F.
The half that involves One who is called the Giver of life.
He is the Bringer of Joy. The Prince of Peace.
The One who not only understands and relates, but also overrides pain, sorrow and hurt.
The One who calls you forth from the ashes into beauty and light. His stupendous, marvelous light. JESUS.

He calls you HEALED.
Yes, you!
But wait. He not only calls you healed, but He also provided the healing through the stripes on His massacred body more than 2000 years ago.
And with Him, who now is alive, He doesn’t just repair or clean the old, wretched, miserable parts of you, but in fact He offers newness.
A new heart. A clean heart. A healed you!

You are ACCEPTED.
He saw you.
While you were drowning in fear and rejection, in abandonment and inadequacy, He saw you.
Oh, He truly saw you.
And He didn’t leave you.
He picked you up from the miry clay of deceit and from your wretched misery.
Yes, the one full of despair and death – and He washed you and presented you to Himself – pure, without blemish. He accepted you. Fully. So believe it!

Friend, you are LOVED.
You see that love and acceptance you’ve been desperately toiling and craving for? That desire to fill the dark, empty and lonely void within you. He gave you that and He alone can fill it perfectly, with precision. With satisfaction.
With His unconditional love.
Oh, friend, He loved you before you could even know of Him or bear His love. Before you sought Him out. Before you even thought of choosing Him.
And even now, in your weakness, in your flaws, in your struggles and in your deepest insecurities, He loves you, still. Deeply!

In Him, you are FREE.
Free from the pain, from the brokenness, from the hurts.
Free from all the chains, the bondages and all the ugly parts.
Because of Him, you don’t have to bear them anymore.
You find your identity in Him and He says you are worth so much more.
He says you are free from fear.
Free from it all.
Forever free – so walk in it. And own it!

Remember, friend, the One who loved you first, who always has your back, He’s in control of everything and He’s freely offering the other half. The better H.A.L.F.
The one with Healing, Acceptance, Love, Freedom – That H.A.L.F of it!

So, which one will it be?

Relatably,
(Fellow Sojourner)
Lyv Lavisa.