Desperate for Easter

Sitting here, contemplating what to write. Yet another blog blurb, and I can’t help but take on a more somber tone. The news continues to be a dismal glimpse into fallen mankind. More acts of evil. Terror in grocery stores. Chaos in spa parlors. Needless deaths. Innocent victims. Like so many others across the world, I was shocked and disheartened by the news of Monday afternoon. Innocent people meet their untimely passing.  You may not pay too close attention to the news. After all this happened thousands of miles away; it did not impact us directly. So, we go back to our regular routines and normal lives.  Yet at the end of the day, the great tragedy is that children lost parents and parents lost children. Death reared its ugly head and left horrendous loss and pain in its wake. It is true that tragedies happen every single day; they just don’t get the national coverage nor media recognition. Still there is something about shocking, unexpected, far-too-soon acts of death that cause people to stop in their tracks and get sick to their stomach. I did. Even being so far removed, the events still shake me. News coverage and stories captivate me. My heart breaks for the families impacted. 
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Sadly, it often takes a shattering tragedy for perspective to ground me in what is truly important. This is probably true for many of us. They provide a “reality check” for my life. Self-reflection is powerful when you candidly stop to see what you may need to change in life. And so, here are some of my own thoughts in the dark wake of Colorado’s events…  

• As the saying goes, “Tomorrow is never guaranteed.” Death will come for all of us. This is a morbid and ugly reality. Ever since Genesis 3 this has been our reality. It doesn’t matter your status or your wealth. At some point (and God-willing peacefully in our old age) we will all leave this world through the unavoidable means of death. Each day is a gift from God. We would do well to not take that granted. Psalm 118:24 says, “This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.” Let us not fill our days with resentment, anger, or despair. Instead seek to have love and overflow with the joy of the Lord. Live each day and each moment with gratitude in your hearts. 

• Because we are all on an unknown timer, never miss an opportunity to tell someone you love them, to help out a friend, to make a positive and lasting impact on those around you. Do me a favor—and more importantly do yourself a favor—and do someone you love a favor. If you’re reading this, shut off your phone, close your laptop, or put the paper down. Go to your wife or your husband, or your mother or your father, or your son or your daughter, and give him a hug… give her a hug. Call them. Visit them. Tell them you love them. Take no one for granted. Let no kind word go unsaid. Soften your tone. Build them up and encourage them. Practice more patience. Go to their baseball games and their dance recitals. Or just stop by to visit, play a game and share a laugh.

 

• These tragedies—like so many others in the past and undoubtedly ones also in the future—makes me realize that I want to be better. After all, what if it is me next time? Indeed, we should all strive to be better people. But I care far more about being the best husband to my wife and best father to my children, being a better son to my parents and a better brother to my siblings.  It’s easy to forget that. It’s easy to let busy schedules or work priorities overtake that. Not anymore!

 

• Never lose hope. To be sure, it’s easy to do. More evil. More violence. More death. More political fallout. More blame. Even still, we cannot mourn like the rest of the world that has no hope. We have Jesus! (cf. 1 Thess. 4)

10 days. We are not far from Easter. Thank God! Pandemic, violence, division—we desperately need Easter this year. Of course this is true every year, but the 2020 darkness still lingers far into this New Year. We are desperate for Good News. As such, the somber tone of this article turns with hope-filled anticipation.  The darkness lifts and gives way to light. The sadness turns to celebration and our posture goes from pain to praise. I can almost hear the shouts of “Alleluia, He is risen indeed” filling the sanctuary to the rafters. This is the reason we celebrate the death AND resurrection of our Savior Jesus. This is what the somber season of Lent culminates in. We await Easter!  A stone rolled away. Jesus risen. Tomb empty. Death destroyed. Tears wiped away. New and eternal life in paradise granted to all who trust in Him. 
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In the midst of death, in the midst of pain, in the midst of hardships and inconsolable grieving, in the midst of cancerous tumors, broken marriages, strained relationships, horrific accidents, unmet expectations, financial hardships—Jesus Christ comes. To bring life. To showcase love. To bring hope. To bring perceptive… that God loves us so much He didn’t want us to wade or drown in death’s sea of despair any longer. Jesus comes so that we know—no matter what may happen—God’s got our back and He will never let us down.  “For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thanks be to God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:56-57 NLT)

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