"Christ is Risen! Celebrate accordingly."

Shortly after Lent began, a friend sent me this verse for encouragement:

"Remember not the former things, do not consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not see it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."

I have to wonder about the Passion. Can you imagine? Jesus was supposed to save everybody - as in, he was pretty much expected to be this mighty warrior who came to the rescue. Jesus laid down His life instead of taking those of their enemies. "What is powerful has not come to fight…" as Derek Webb croons. It was not exactly what they had in mind. Might not God have said to the disciples, "I am doing a new thing! Do you not see it? HELLO!!" They didn't. I still don't. Out of the horrific death of Christ came this beautiful redemption, the salvation of the world. Even out of such a dark wilderness, the Lord made a way. My suffering is incomparable to Christ's suffering. But the truth remains: doesn't matter what happened way back when or even yesterday. God was (is) doing a new thing, a more beautiful thing than we could (can) imagine. Friday and Saturday's dim sadness are nullified by Sunday. This particular song I have been listening to says this, "It just might be the prettiest thing that you've ever seen, well it's a new day." This rings especially true as we welcome Easter Sunday.

Psalm 139: there is no where I can hide where God will not find me. "Even the darkness is not dark to [God]; the night is bright as day, for darkness is as light to [God]." Even as I perceive[d] darkness, where I hide and feel secluded from my Father... well, needless to say, I am wrong. Every now and then, my feelings dictate a shaky faith. I have to grasp that faith is not a feeling, rather, faith overcomes my feelings. When my feelings are the most hurt, this is when I must recall the truth: that God doesn't change. Even in the times when I perceive the most darkness, times like now when I cannot wrap my tiny mind around why things happen, I know I follow a God who sees right through it. And God will make a way, after all.

Often holidays fall through secular cracks... how chocolate rabbits are to remind us of the Resurrection, I'll never quite know. [sidenote: I am so not knocking chocolate rabbits. they're delicious. just driving my point home.] I am equally to blame. Often my birthday (which, we know this, I LOVE) falls right around Easter, and I get all caught up in the glory of my birth... and the death and resurrection of the Son of God plays second fiddle to that event. WHAT IS THAT? What the heck is wrong with me!? But such a misstep is a mere microcosm of the life I live, where I so often am distracted by something shiny and turn away from the completely beautiful paramount truth of the Cross. Truth so incredible and earth shattering (curtain splitting, even!) should be constantly on the tip of my tongue. The title of this post was actually a text message from a friend this morning - it made me smile and remember that that is EXACTLY true. I am convinced that if I really could fathom the miracle of the Cross, I would never talk about anything else to anyone ever. [exaggerating, maybe. or am I? again, with the driving of points...]

Regardless of what your mess is or what the wilderness looks like, we all want out of it. We all need a God who does not even comprehend darkness - where we are weak, God is made strong. We all need to be brought down a few notches every now and then and let Christ play first fiddle. Beyond the season of Lent, we are called to give to God the things we least want to give. We are to trust in Sunday, and not let Friday and Saturday get us down, because in today we are reminded that, as I said yesterday, that is not the end of the story! We keep reading. God overcomes. God does a new thing. God makes a way out of the wilderness. Sometimes the Bible seems like it's out of date and doesn't apply to our lives. But these things have not changed. Even the darkness is as light to our God. Even in the horrors of Good Friday and a Holy Saturday, God was doing this big, huge, gargantuan thing.

As Pastor Marsh quoted in church this morning, "It's Friday. But Sunday's a comin'!"

Happy happy Easter!! I am thankful to be here with all my family today enjoying each other. Thankful that SUNDAY IS HERE!!!!