Longest Night Service

You keep track of all my sorrows.
    You have collected all my tears in your bottle.
    You have recorded each one in your book.

Psalm 56:8 NLT

I participated in our church’s Longest Night Service last night. This is an experiential service designed for those dealing acutely with grief, loss, and pain in this Christmas season. The atmosphere, lighting, song selection, and beauty of the violin were amazing. The theme of the night was, “Jesus is with you in the pain and grief. His presence is healing.” We took communion, lit candles, sat with Jesus, took home tassels, and released our pain. But more than that, the presence of Jesus was palpable in the room.

I went thinking I didn’t have anything to grieve. I was there to help lead the service and be there for others. But almost immediately, without warning, I began to weep. I was grieving something deep inside of my soul, but I couldn’t discern immediately what it was. So I asked Jesus about this.

He not only revealed what I was grieving, but He brought Isaiah 53:3 to mind. Jesus revealed to me that when He shows up in a room as the One who is “a man of suffering, and familiar with pain,” things that we didn’t even know we needed to grieve come to the surface.

When Jesus shows up as “a man of suffering, familiar with pain” and the Holy Spirit shows up as the Comforter, the things that have been trapped in the deep places of our soul feel safe to emerge. And I know of a few others who experienced the same thing. They came to the service to support others and ended up experiencing both unexpected grieving and unexpected healing.

Tears flowed last night but in a way that was healing and cleansing. Jesus kept his promise from Psalm 34:18, that He “is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”