6.5.22

One of the reasons I’m confident in the truth of the gospel is because of how often this world unintentionally floods our lives with it. The gospel is laced through the fabric of our world because it’s one message the creator didn’t want us to miss! Shades of the gospel can be found in the movies which bring tears to our eyes, the songs that captivate our hearts, and the stories we like, share, and repost. Two days ago, I was on a longer flight and I watched the movie Dear Evan Hansen. The movie is about a high school boy with severe social anxiety and his journey of self-discovery through a classmate’s suicide.

There is a scene in the movie where Evan Hansen is broken down in front of his mother. He has hit rock bottom, and with a trembling voice and despair in his eyes, he says to his mom, “If you knew what I tried to do… If you knew who I am, how just broken I am…” His words stopped and he began to cry when his mom grabbed his head in her hands and looked into his eyes. With a tender compassion she said,” Evan, I already know you. And I love you.”

I love this scene because I think God says the very same to us all the time. The message of the gospel is that while we are more deeply flawed than we have ever wanted to admit to anyone, we are more deeply loved than we have ever dared to dream. The longing Evan Hansen had, and the one you and I share, is to be both fully known and fully loved. We often feel that if someone knew the real us and knew our darkest secrets, they wouldn’t love us. Evan’s mom reminds him that he is already known and loved by her, just as God reminds you and me that we are already known and loved by him.

In the movie, Evan is given an assignment from his therapist to write a daily letter to himself to remind him that it’s going to be a good day. He begins each letter with, “Dear Evan Hansen, today is going to be a good day because…” I think God wants us to do the same. I think he wants us to write a letter (maybe not always literally) to ourselves every day and preach the good news of the gospel to our own hearts.

Dear Bo Lori,

Today is going to be a good day because despite of your flaws, God loved you so much that he sent his own son to die for you. And even if you were the only one on earth, Jesus still would have chosen to give up his life to save yours. And no matter how many times you run away, God will never stop pursuing your heart. Through the good, bad, and ugly, you are fully known and completely loved. Today, that’s all you need to know because there is no greater news than this.

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)