As the world stands still this Easter, we are called to reflect, look back, look forward, and at the same time, stay right where we are in the here and now. What has the here-and-now taught you?
Are you prone to grumble, complain, and only look towards how your life was before? Or can you somehow use this time and redeem it for something more?
Just for a minute, let’s spend some time thinking about what happened when Christ resurrected. Let’s really put ourselves into the hearts and minds of his disciples.
They had been with him during his entire ministry, and now they had just seen the greatest man they had ever known, a man they lived with, ate with, lived their very lives with, put to death brutally on a cross. Where was the hope that was promised? Nothing but emptiness clouded their thoughts and grief filled their souls. But then, something amazing happened…
John 20:1-2
“Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciples, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.’”
These two disciples then ran to the tomb, finding nothing but “cloths lying there”(v.4)
At this point, we would assume that they knew what was going on, but all the shock and surprise of the events that had just unfolded, they did not.
John 20:9-11
“For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.: But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked in to the tomb.”
Dear friend, are you stuck in the same spot these precious disciples were stuck in? During this time of isolation and staying home, many of us are left with a sense of loneliness, and we can’t help but cry and complain and wonder how any good can come from this. Maybe we are even in a state of grief like the disciples. Their minds knew that this man who just died was the Son of God, but in this moment, this very “in-between” moment, their hearts were overcome with grief.
But we must remember, whenever we are prone to believe that things look hopeless, the future bleak, and the circumstances unchangeable, God is not finished with His story yet.
John 20:16-18
“Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to Him, ‘Raboni!’ (which is to say, Teacher). Jesus said to her, ‘Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’”
Do you believe God is done with the story of Covid-19? I believe not.
While this may be a different kind of Easter, and while you may even feel a sense of loss today that we are not celebrating with our fellow Christians – I encourage you to reflect today. Reflect on what God might be asking of you in this situation, what He might be working on in your life, or even what He might be telling the world through all of this. There is no question that His purpose will be carried out, no matter what our circumstances. But instead of allowing our hearts to go to a place of contempt or complaining, let’s pay attention to what God might be doing right in front of us.
Isaiah 43:18
“Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the dessert.”