First The Darkness, Then The Morning

Romans 8:18 – I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

It was the morning of Good Friday. I confess I was only listening to the sermon with one ear, because my mind was on some things going on in my own life. The story of that first Good Friday is not one to cheer you up; that comes later. My gloom deepened as the story went on. I heard about the body of Christ being placed in the tomb, and compared that to some "dead" things in my life. Dead hopes and dreams. Things once full of promise, now all gone.

Everyone has some things like that. We all have dead hopes and dreams. Some have far more than that. A dead spouse, a dead marriage that's ended in divorce, seemly dead job prospects or even something as horrible as a dead child. We are human, and our lives are full of dead things.

But then things took an unexpected twist. I was invited to take all the dead things in my life and bury them in the Easter tomb, along with Christ. For this is the essence of our human condition: death and decay. But Christians believe with all their hearts that Jesus Christ came and walked on this Earth to change all that.

The Apostle Paul was fully aware of the human troubles we would face on this earth. But he never lost sight of whatever was happening, there was a far more glorious future in store for every believer. Paul wrote about this in our Romans passage, and reinforced his thoughts in his second letter to the Corinthians when he wrote "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. (2 Corinthians 4:17 NIV).

Take every dead thing in your life, and bury them in the Easter tomb with Christ!

I know the past won't change, but turn around and look to the future. For the Christian, there is a future full of wonder and glory. All the things thought "dead" are made alive in Jesus Christ. Even loved ones, you thought "gone" will be more alive than they have ever been before. Indeed, the only "dead" thing in Heaven, then, is Death itself. (Revelation 21:4)

This is the glorious message of Easter. Good Friday is not the end. Death does not have the last word. Your world might be dark, but wait with patience for the morning.

Prayer: Oh Lord, on some days the world seems so dark. Evil seems to have won, and we can't seem to see signs of Your Kingdom. Thank You for the hope and patience You give us to walk Jesus' way this season, through the gloom, all the way to Easter; all the way to the daybreak that has no end. Amen.

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