The great Good News of Easter.
“Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living,
Just because He lives!”
Because He Lives, Bill and Gloria Gaither
“Let your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you.”
Psalm 33:22, NIV
In this world, in our lives, we will have trouble. We will have issues. We will go through storms - pain, illness, persecution, family issues, financial ups and downs - the Bible teaches us that the same kinds of things befall both the righteous and the unrighteous... (Ecclesiastes 9)
Paul acknowledges this in most of his letters. Life gets difficult at times... And your faith does not take away the fact that we live in a fallen world where sometimes life happens.
Paul still got sick (Galatians 4:13), he still went through depression and anxiety (2 Corinthians 1:8-11), he still suffered injury (Acts 14:19), he still got into shipwrecks / accidents (Acts 27), he still faced persecution (Acts 13:50), unfair accusation and imprisonment (Acts 21) and financial troubles (Phil 4:12:). He actually sums this up in 2 Corinthians 11:21-29: (NIV)
“Whatever anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast about. 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I. 23 Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?”
Paul went through some very real ‘stuff’. And you might be reading this and going through some very real ‘stuff’. And I want to tell you it’s okay. It doesn’t mean that you aren’t a ‘true believer’ and it definitely doesn’t mean that God has forsaken you. It just means God is working in the background and that we need to trust the process. Trust in Him.
You might have some family issues - God wants to restore your family.
You might be struggling with depression or addiction - God wants to free you, heal you and make you whole.
You might be worried about how you are going to feed your family - but God is making a way for you today.
Even though Paul went through some ‘stuff’ that made him ‘despair unto death’ (2 Corinthians 1:8-11)- he knew what to do in the face of these storms. Trust and rest in God. God is the one who delivers us. He has been on Your side and will continue to be there to catch you when you fall.
It is from this perspective that Paul writes Romans 5:
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:1-8, NIV)
When we were still powerless - weak - Christ died for us. He demonstrated His love on the Cross, with open arms, calling ‘come to Me.’
In our powerlessness - when we find ourselves in those times and places where we have no control, where we don’t know what to do and where we feel like our backs are against the wall - in those moments where we despair unto death because there is no way out - turn to The Way! Jesus is the Way. In our weakness He is strong.
Jesus knew we would still have trouble - in fact, He told His disciples that very thing - ‘in this world you will have trouble’ - trials, temptations and tribulations will no doubt come. Storms will come. Life will still happen. But we are not hopeless anymore.
When we cast our burdens unto Jesus - when we hear the Shepherd calling ‘come’ and run to Him we come to the same realisation that Paul came to in Romans 8:28-39:
”28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Because He lives - because Jesus has conquered death, disease and despair - I can face tomorrow. I can face the unknown. I can face those things that I feel unsure about - because this one thing is sure and certain - Jesus is the Rock of my Salvation. He is the Good Father, the Good Shepherd and the Lover of my Soul. He is my Stronghold. My Healer, my Provider, my Strength, my Hope and my Future.
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow as more than a conqueror - knowing that nothing - no situation or circumstance can separate me from His love - His love that works all things to our good.
Because He lives, and because He loves me I know everything will be okay.
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Prayer: Lord, help me today to see Your hand in my life - to see that Your Hand has never been too short to reach me. Help me Lord, to feel Your love today. Help me Lord, in this moment, here where I find myself right now, to put my trust in You and rest in who You are. I thank You Lord that You give me the strength to endure and wait on You and trust Your process. Thank You Lord for Your blood on the cross. The blood that cleanses me of my sin and iniquity, but also through which my healing was paid. I declare healing over my body, over my mind, and my emotions in Jesus name. In the mighty name of Jesus I declare healing and restoration over my family and my finances. I thank You Lord that my present problems are promises waiting to be fulfilled. I thank You Lord that my test will be my testimony. I thank You Lord that Your love is working all things to my good. Because You are alive - risen from the dead - I too can rise up out of my situation. In Jesus name. Amen.