Dark to Light

As we approach Easter Sunday I keep thinking about the final week leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus, and the range of emotions his followers experienced.  On Sunday he rides into Jerusalem on a donkey.  Thousand pour into the streets to cheer his arrival, believing that he has come at last to establish an earthly kingdom, and overthrow the government of Rome, giving control of all Judea back to the Jews.  But little do they know, the kingdom he has come to establish will be far different than the one they envisioned.  Little do they know that by the end of the week, Jesus will be dead, and their dreams will die with him.  But the story doesn't end there.

I think about how bitterly disappointed Jesus followers were throughout the events of that final week.  How they must have been so confused as Jesus rehearsed in their ears his own coming death.  How their hearts must have failed them for fear as Jesus gave himself up without a fight. How all they had lived for, all they believed in, all they gave up - homes, families, businesses - all of it for nothing now; how it all must have seemed just a mad fantasy, as Jesus hung dying on the cross.  But the story doesn't end there.

How dark were those final hours?  Thursday night Jesus is arrested, and a horrific string of events planned from time immemorial takes place, causing even the most stalwart in the faith to desert Christ and flee to the relative safety of obscurity and anonymity.  How we, too, tend to be ready to surrender our God-given vision when darkness falls in our lives.  I keep thinking how important it is for us to remember that before the glorious day of resurrection, darkness fell upon the face of the earth.  Because the story doesn't end there.

You may be experiencing dark events in your own life right now.  You may be looking at your life thinking, "How can I possibly survive this?"  It could be a physical problem, it could be a financial problem, it could be a relationship problem.  It could be all three.  Whatever the situation, we all share that same humanity with those early Christ-followers who said, "This is more than I can bear", and chose to walk away.  Who could blame them?  Who could blame anyone for questioning God's intentions whether the face of the earth is covered in darkness, or our own life situation seems dark and hopeless?  But the story doesn't end there.

I encourage you to fix your eyes not on Friday - the day of Jesus trial and conviction, the day of Jesus crucifixion and death, the day of Jesus burial, the day that darkness fell on the face of the earth - but on Sunday, the bright and shining and glorious day of new beginnings, the day of the empty tomb, the day that the darkness could not overcome the light!  I encourage you to look past your present darkness, toward the bright and glorious light that is Christ - the mender of broken bodies and ruined relationships, the guarantor of God's of promised peace and provision, and the hope of the world.

Take heart, mom worried about wayward children.  Take heart, dad fretting over bills greater than the bankroll.  Take heart, wounded, sick, or faith-weary children of God for Christ the Lord is risen!  Like those that lined the streets of Jerusalem that day - we have no idea what awesome plans God has for our lives.  We don't know how they will unfold.  We don't know when things will come to pass.  We don't even know the shape our lives will take in the years to come.  But we do know this is what the scriptures mean when they say, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him" (1 Cor 2:9).  

Let's not decide in advance that things can't or won't work out because we may be facing trouble. Instead, let's decide in advance that we don't know everything.  And let's remember that God has a plan for our lives.  It may be dark where you are, but it's only dark because the dawn is coming.