A (mostly) Healthy Blog

Have you ever thought about what it was like for God to become man? Pondered what it felt like for the Divine—who existed before time itself, content in dark, swirling depths, illuminated by his own radiance—to take on flesh? For the Spirit, moving as freely as the wind, a whisper, to suddenly be forced to breathe. The One who crafted the world with the ease of a child playing with finger paint; dotting the canvas with rivers and streams, mighty oceans and diverse continents. Who imagined into existence the intricacies of every living creature, flower and landscape; no two snowflakes, stars, strands of hair or grains of sand alike. 

For that untamed, unbridled and vivacious energy—to suddenly—be conformed into the shape of man whom He so carefully created. Abruptly reliant on elements of His own design—on gravity and oxygen—the inventor bowing to the confines of his creation. To porcelain bones and aching joints, hunger pangs, sickness and disease, emotions bigger than our fragility can sometimes bear, and the constant ache to be set free.

Even with our Divine reflection, we are bound by this flesh and have never known otherwise. Yet scarce a minute goes by that I don’t feel the tug-of-war of my humanity. A spirit longing to be released from a body that is brilliant, yes, but also beautifully broken. I’ve often clung to the comfort that Jesus walked this earth thus understands my pain; yet in the same breath I’ve had those thoughts, “But Jesus never experienced…” insert malady. But Jesus never had his skull fused to his neck, tailbone removed, nerves pulled from his spine, discs that budge and joints that go pop.

No, Jesus probably didn’t experience the exact set of symptoms we struggle with, but He understands our experience in one profound way that encompasses any and everything we will ever endure. Fully God yet fully man; Jesus was constantly suspended in the tension of a Spirit that knows unbounded freedom, and of humanity that only knows constraint. Every moment of His existence exemplified the truth that “…the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now.” Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭22‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Jesus knows the pain of being trapped in a body you feel at odds with or that you think you don’t belong in. The agony of legs that don’t hold you up, a back that won’t bend, an immune system attacking itself, a mind that struggles to let in the light, an identity that doesn’t fit the norm or struggles with acceptance.

Whatever you are facing today, I’d encourage you today to lean into this truth: Jesus understands. There is absolutely nothing you can endure that would cause Jesus to leave your side in solidarity. And He loves you so much that He chose the path of surrender, so He could walk beside you no matter what.