Through The Bible in a Year - May 20, 2026

"The people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away." -Ezra 3:13

The mixed sound of weeping and rejoicing—honest pain and genuine praise combined—went out from that humble construction site of the new temple "and the sound was heard far away."

This is the reverberating power of the gospel. Not people pretending everything is fine. Not people denying the real world, real hurt, real sin. But people who acknowledge it all and simultaneously declare: "Our God is good, for His mercy endures long beyond sin, pain, and trial. Because of such love, we trust Him. We turn to Him. We seek Him."

When other people hear such honest praise from God’s people—that honest mixture of tears and praise—they listen.

A young woman named Mary texted three friends when she realized she'd lost her way to God. She wrote, "I am doubting my faith, and I do not know the way back."

Why did she text those three friends? "They were not randomly chosen. They were friends who had previously shared their own struggles with faith and obedience. They were people who knew tears, and they knew how to rejoice in God at the same time. They'd been on the path Mary was now walking. Their honesty about their paths made their words worth listening to."

The people worth listening to are the ones who don't pretend.

When your worship is real—when it holds honest weeping and genuine rejoicing together—it creates a sound that travels far. It reaches people who are drowning in their own failures, despairing in the ruins of their own making, and wondering if there's any hope.

Such people don't need to hear – and can’t hear – from those who have perfect lives. Such people need to hear from those who have stood amidst ruins and known God's grace in the midst of it.

Mary wrote about what she learned from the hope she gained from honest friends: "I share my story now in order to shatter my own self-crafted image as a poster child for the Christian community. I am a sinner, ransomed and redeemed, lost and found. My story is all about a great God who knows who I am and still sent His Son for me, who knows my sin, but whose grace is sweeter and whose mercy is free."

That testimony—"I am the sinner, ransomed and redeemed"—is the sound that travels far into souls in need. Mary was healed by that testimony, and others will be helped by the same from us.

Respond: Who needs to hear your sound of honest worship—your mixture of tears and praise?

Who in your life is standing in the ruins, wondering if God could possibly still care? Who has wandered far and doesn't know the way back? Who thinks they're the only one who has messed up this badly? They don't need to hear about your perfection. They need to hear about God's grace in your imperfection.

You don't have to be perfect to have a healing testimony. You just have to be honest about where you've been and how God’s grace remained no matter how far you wandered.

The mixed sound of weeping and rejoicing together—that's the sound that travels far. That's the testimony that changes lives.

Prayer: Father, thank You that my story doesn't have to be perfect to be useful. Thank You that You can use even the ruins of my past to display Your grace. Help me to be honest about where I've been and who You are. Give me opportunities to share my testimony—the tears and the praise together—with someone who needs to hear it. Let the sound of Your grace in my life travel far. Use my story to help others find their way back to You. However many steps they've taken away, help them know you never took one step away from them. In Jesus' name, Amen.