Alright or...all wrong?

Social media is great.  It keeps me informed on who did what, when they did, where it happened, what was so great about it, and...sometimes it tells me why something happened.  Other times it leaves me subject to either believing what is being fed to me or making up my own mind.

Case in point:  Matthew McConaugheyheyhey.  Okay, I hear your collective rapturous sighs (ahem Gloria).  Yes, he is a cutie and that southern drawl of his has melted many a heart.  He's a man's man and a woman's dream.  His celebrity has risen extensively over the years and with his Oscar win for his role in "Dallas Buyers Club" he is now taken very seriously as an actor and not just a man with a pretty face.

One of Matthew's trademark quotes is "Alright alright alright!"  It usually brings a smile to my face as I envision his mischievous smile and that voice, gravelly, as he grins into the camera.  Usually but...but not today.  Today, as I read Max Lucado's devotion, those three words took on another meaning.  

They come from the Book of Jeremiah and read like this:  “They treat my people's wounds as though they were not serious, saying, 'Everything is alright! Everything is alright!' But it's not alright."  (6:14)

Ouch, right?  

So many of us just want to brush aside another's pain, kiss it and make it better, and then forget about the lasting bruises, broken bones, and hurting spirits.  Most of it's our own fault, for we are too quick to respond that we are okay because we don't want others to feel sorry for us.  Or don't want them to try to fix us--as in quick fix rather than a complete excision of the object that needs to be removed so that it can stop pricking us.  Either way, it’s not alright.  We’re not alright.

Maybe it’s time to stop being superficial, friends.  Maybe it’s time to stop saying we’re fine when our wounds ache, when our sores aren’t healing as well as they could because we keep picking at them.  Maybe it’s time to call on The Great Physician and allow Him to let others balm us.  Our wounds are serious and they need treated, not ignored.  

Let’s pray!

Dear Lord, as I ponder this verse and the significance of it, thank You.  Thank Your for once again reminding me to stop accepting pat answers from folks when I can sense more is going on.  Help me to be bold but not pushy.  Help me to see behind the pretense and seek the heart of the matter.  Help me, Lord, I earnestly pray, to show others that they matter and that their pain is validated--in spite of their best efforts to convince me (themselves?) that they’re all right.  “The greatest is love” Paul said, when discussing Christians’ best attributes.  May I love better than ever before through Christ Jesus is my prayer this evening.  Amen.