This Holy Week, as headlines around the world focus on the horrific terrorist attacks in Turkey and Belgium, I feel equal parts heartsick and hopeless. Sometimes the world feels like such a scary place that I want to barricade myself in my house and never come out.
Around the world, millions of people are offering their thoughts and prayers to the people of Turkey and Belgium, and governments are pledging to double-down on their efforts to end terrorism. I know this show of solidarity is important, but my heart rails against the seeming futility of it. I don’t want more thoughts and prayers and pledges to end terrorism. I crave something much more than that. I want the God who controls time and space and eternity to stop the madness already. I want the God who defeated Satan at Calvary to vanquish him once and for all, so that no other lives are ever torn apart in the time it takes for a bomb to detonate.
Easter is an annual reminder that evil will never have the last word in our world, and this year I need that reminder more than ever. Brokenhearted over a broken world, my heart screams, “Maranatha!” Come quickly, Lord Jesus.”
When life is going according to plan, the Christian notion of resurrection can feel nice but not necessary. But when the rug has been ripped out from under us, the idea of resurrection becomes a much-needed lifeline, something we cling to fervently because we need to be reminded that hurt and heartache aren’t going to have the final say.
When we are at our lowest, the idea of resurrection becomes a way of life, a hard-fought determination that God can bring beauty from ashes.
The Resurrection Reminds Us God Can Identify With Our Suffering
Philip Yancey wrote, “One detail in the Easter stories has always intrigued me: Why did Jesus keep the scars from His crucifixion? …From the perspective of heaven, they represent the most horrible event that has ever happened in the history of the universe. Even that event, though, Easter has turned into a memory.” Easter is a poignant reminder that the darkest of nights and the most painful of situations are not beyond God’s power to redeem.
This Holy Week, our world remains as broken as it ever was. And with Easter right around the corner, I hope we will not choose to discount this brokenness with rosy sentiments about how Jesus makes everything better. We know God will one day right all wrongs, but right now there are an immeasurable amount of wrongs. We should not trivialize the very real pain and heartbreak in our world. These tragedies deserve to be mourned. But I hope they will push us toward the God who identifies with our suffering and not away from Him.
As Edward Shillito wrote, “The other gods were strong, but Thou wast weak; they rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne; but to our wounds only God’s wounds can speak, and not a god has wounds, but Thou alone.” The resurrection reminds us we have a God who understands our pain and who will be there for us in the midst of our brokenness. The resurrection does not guarantee that God will make fix everything this side of heaven, but it does guarantee that He will be there for us in the midst of our suffering.
The Resurrection Reminds Us That This Is Not the End of the Story…
Read full article from Rebekah Bell at Relevant Magazine
