Standing at the top of Andrews Glacier in Rocky Mountain National Park is both exhilarating and daunting. My day turned into a much longer adventure when I decided to hike over to this glacier instead of returning on the same trail I originally ascended hours earlier. Thankful for cell service, I took a picture from the top and sent it to Rebekah. “Just want you to know I’m attempting to descend Andrews Glacier. So you know where I am.”

Rebekah later told me she could tell I was nervous just from my message. She was right.

It’s an incredible gift to know that someone cares whenever we’re facing hard or scary things. Healthy relationships, in fact, are built on our shared human desire to know and be known by someone. In fact, it’s said that we’re looking for someone looking for us.

Even though I was hiking alone, I was glad to know that Rebekah cared about where I was and what I was facing. She wasn’t too sure about my sanity, but she cared, nonetheless. If I didn’t come home that night, Rebekah would be looking for me.

Reflecting on that final day of my Sabbatical, I remember a pervasive feeling of being “hemmed in” and surrounded by God’s love. I wasn’t alone at all - my friend, Jesus, was hiking with me. There was a deep delight and joy in sensing that I was known and cared for by the God who knit me together in my mother’s womb.

You might recall a time when you felt the loving presence of God so real and tangible that you could practically touch it, taste it, and take it in. Do you remember how comforting and freeing it was to know that the God of the Universe truly cares for you?

You also might know what it’s like to move directly from those consolations to feelings of hopelessness, abandonment, disillusionment, desolation and discouragement. How quickly we forget what we just experienced as good and beautiful and true. The struggles and questions of our real world experience leave us feeling as if we have been forgotten. And in our despair we cry out to Jesus, “Do you care?”

Martha, a friend and disciple of Jesus, knew all too well the pain of loss. After sending word to Jesus of her brother’s sickness, she endured the pain of watching Lazarus die. His body was placed in the tomb and the mourning ritual was in full swing when Jesus finally arrived in Bethany.

“When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.” (John 11:20-22)

Martha acknowledged two things in her greeting. First, because Jesus was not there in time, her brother died. Second, Jesus can ask anything from the Father and it will be given. Every place Jesus is, there is potential for healing and restoration. I wonder if underneath her acknowledgement of Jesus’ tardiness Martha was struggling with this core question: Do you care?

You seemed to care. We thought you cared. We desperately need you to care.

Do you really care? This is a legitimate question permeating our every day lives. In healthy relationships we give and receive appropriate levels of empathy and concern for the well-being of one another. We work toward flourishing.

Soul Care is built upon this notion.

When we say our souls need to be cared for, what we mean is that God is interested in, and actively pursuing, the well-being and flourishing of our souls. The essence of soul care is recognizing, first and foremost, that God truly does care for us.

Jesus showed just how much he cared when he stood before Lazarus’ grave and wept. He experienced the depth of their suffering and felt it, too. He bore witness to their deep cries of loss and validated the full spectrum of their emotions. And then, he invited them to become participants in the work of care. Someone had to move the stone. Someone had to tend to the grave clothes.

The work of care is costly; healthy relationships require getting our hands a little dirty. We can’t remain self-centered and detached while simultaneously giving ourselves to the care of another person. We must show up, just like Jesus did, bear witness to the struggle and the pain, and say with all our hearts, “I see you and I care.”

As you consider what it’s like to have Jesus show up in the real stuff of your own life, remember that this is a relationship built on a foundation of love and care, and it goes both ways. Allow Jesus to care for your soul. Let him speak words of healing and restoration into the broken places. Just be with Jesus.

How might we respond to such care? May we delightfully embody Jesus’ love and care to the world around us.

Being with Jesus. Becoming people of love. This is the point of life.

Do you care, Jesus?

Communication is the Key

Being with Jesus