About Red Stuff

 

“He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3

Red...it comes in many different shades, tints, and intensities. After a Google search, I quickly realized that there are well over 100 colors of red. 

I asked my Facebook friends what came to their mind when they thought of the color red and there were many replies. I want to share some here:

Red Radio wagons, 

Red Tricycles, 

Red sports cars,

Red shoes, 

Red candy apples,

Red fire trucks...

There were also sentimental reminders: 

Red hair,

Red roses,

Red cardinals,

Red balloons...

Indeed, there are many beautiful, lovely things we think of when we think of red. 

There were also reds related to holidays:

Hearts and Valentine’s Day,

Candy canes, stockings and Christmas time,

Fireworks and Independence Day...

There are also other categories which red belonged to:

Stop signs which bring us home safely,

Warning lights keep us safe from danger,

Anger and love are also both “red emotions” we feel each day...

The color red. It can bring excitement, or warm, fuzzy feelings, or memories of sentiment, and even feelings of fear. 

Then, there are these shades of red:

Roses,

Blood. 

Almost identical? Maybe?

These are the two I want to focus on for just a few moments. 

I think just about any lady feels loved and special when they receive a bouquet of beautiful, fragrant roses. Can I get a thumbs up or an “O, yeah!” from over there? Thorns, on the other hand, we want to avoid. Right? Why? Thorns prick the flesh and bring us pain. Blood. 

We do the same thing with real life issues. We welcome the stuff which is pretty, the stuff that makes us feel happy or special; and try to avoid those hard issues (thorns) which come along with it and cause us to bleed. Face it, life has the tendency to get up in our face and offer us seemingly nothing but thorns and pain some days. 

When we or a child bleeds, we are quick to grab a band-aid to cover and catch all the blood. Rightly so. Maybe we’re even one of those persons who faint at the sight of blood! It’s all good though...

blood is a sign that something is wrong.  

Some issues in life require more than a band-aid though. I’m talking about the proverbial band-aid here. We have to tend to the pain and hurt that intertwines with the blood. We must be real and honest about our pain; we must make ourselves vulnerable: to ourselves, another trusted person willing to help, and most of all, to God. 

Roses are created by God; but so are the thorns and blood. 

They are symbols of life. That means they are both beautiful in some way if we can somehow take the right perspective. 

At first, we’re not usually thankful for the ugly parts of our life which cause us to bleed. The truth is, we’d rather escape them entirely, but sometimes that’s entirely impossible. The rosiest parts of life are beautiful, but the bloody phases can be too. Roses are beautiful, and blood can be too. Remember, every difficulty we face has been noticed by Jesus. He is attracted to our bleeding hearts; He even made Himself vulnerable and allowed His own body to be broken and to bleed - for our healing and well-being. 

So, I hope when we think of the color red from now on, that we’ll think about roses and blood in a different way. May we all be a bit more encouraged even though, and when, the thorns of life prick our hearts. May the blood remind us that we’re not alone in our pain, that God understands every emotion intertwined with blood, and that He will always do more than slap a band-aid on our wounds. 

Jesus bled so that when we bleed, we can find healing - in spite of the thorns. 

RED...it comes in many shades and feelings. Sometimes it brings beauty and pain simultaneously.  Both roses and blood come in beautiful shades. They both represent life lived completely. Be encouraged and blessed today, my friend. 

Lord, cover each of us with your precious blood today and remind us in a special way, maybe even through this post, that you are always at work in our lives. No matter what we’re going through, no matter what it looks or feels like, let us find hope in knowing you see and are aware of every pain and heartache, and you will always do more than just slap a band-aid on hurting hearts. You are indeed the heart-mender. 

Amen~