It has been a long couple of months, and while we are just 3
months into 2016 it feels almost as if it’s 2020 or something. The sleepless
and anxiety filled nights have come more frequently (in fact this blog is the
product of one), the tears have been flowing freely at the slightest
provocation and I couldn’t even tell you why, and the hope that once seemed
certain feels lost. When a dear friend a week and a half ago asked me how life
was going I framed it this way: “Sometimes being in my mid twenties, single,
and living with my parents with crippling student loans feels like lent with no
sign of Easter.” Just 2 days after saying that, on Good Friday nonetheless, I
ran into this article, and was reminded of a promise that at the time struck
the chords of my soul, Easter is coming.
Indeed, Easter did come, and everything rests on that
moment. But the days are still hard, the nights are still long, and the tears
keep falling. Which surprisingly, is resoundingly okay. Lesslie Newbigin once
famously said, "I am neither an optimist nor a pessimist. Jesus Christ is
risen from the dead." We can face life with a realism that allows us to
both feel the pains and adversities of life and see them for what they are, and
at the same time we do not despair because we can rest in the ultimate hope
that we have as Christians, that we too one day will be raised with Christ and
on top of that, right now at this very moment God is using everything to make us more like His Son.
So here we go soul, let me remind you of a couple of promises
that are yours, ones that are verified and proven true because of that very
first Easter.
“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the
crushed in spirit” Psalm 34:18. This is probably my favorite verse in all of scripture.
First off, it is a reminder that even though we are in Christ, we are not
suddenly exempt from the pains of life.
We all will at times feel the pangs of depression, be brokenhearted, become
disappointed, suffer some grave injustice, or go through some other tragedy.
But the fact of the matter is that The Lord is right there with you in the
midst of it all and at some point, you will get through it. He has not
abandoned you but instead He is close, He is moving in and through you, and He
is most importantly making great use out of these troubling times, so hold
on.
Next, “Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain
you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved” Psalm 55:22. Or as 1st
Peter 5:7 tells us, we should be “casting all your anxieties on him, because he
cares for you.” Christ is not indifferent to our suffering, he feels it just as
deeply as you do, probably even more so, and he wants to be the sustainer of
your soul. All you need to do is give it over to Him, and then, even when you
are weary from it all, you can find rest.
And these are just two, I could go on all day with the
promises of scripture. I could turn to Philippians 1:6 showing you that God is
not done with you yet. And what about Philippians 4 where we learn we
have the ability to be content in every situation and can rest in the fact that
God is going to supply every need (or Matthew 6). Really, all of Scripture is a
promise from God that though we turned away from him in our selfishness, He is
faithful in seeking us out, reconciling us to Himself through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son, making us new through His Spirit, and bringing it
all together with the new heavens and earth where He is going to wipe away
every single tear, all for His glory. So drink deeply of said scripture, learn
it, cultivate it into your every day life, and remember that because that first
Easter happened, your Easter is coming.
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