March 31, 2018

Hope Is Coming

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. – Hebrews 6:19a

He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. – Isaiah 53:3-4

Today is the day in between. We have suffered through Good Friday but we haven’t yet seen the miracle of the Resurrection. We our lost, alone, abandoned. Where is hope in the midst of our circumstances?

If you’ve never experienced deep betrayal, harsh words thrown at you, sudden illness, even death, then count yourself fortunate. Jesus warned us that in this world we would have trouble. We see it all around us. We ache from the pain that rips our hearts apart.

We forget that He also said, “I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) We are not lost or alone or abandoned. Hope is coming. Jesus is coming. We just have to get through today.

In the deep valley, it’s sometimes hard to see the sun coming up on the horizon. We look around and see only darkness. The path is rocky, the way unclear. We have been abandoned, rejected by those closest to us. Lies surround us and we wonder if the truth will ever raise its head. It will. Hope is coming.

He was despised by those who didn’t understand. Jesus was mocked and ridiculed. He came to save us all from our sins but we wanted no part of it, of Him. We wanted to live and be a part of this world. We were greedy, arrogant even, in our demands. Until the moment it was all gone. Why did we fight so hard for something we were never meant to have?

This world is not our home. We hear that and nod in agreement. We know what we’re supposed to say, what we’re supposed to believe. Yet we live as though this is all there is. We puff up in self-importance, refusing to acknowledge that it was never about us.

Hope is coming. He hung from a cross. He died so you and I wouldn’t have to spend eternity separated from God. All we have to do is believe, to put our trust, our hope, in Him. Why is it so hard to let go of the things of the world in order to embrace the inheritance that awaits us in heaven?

Maybe we don’t really believe. We know the answers but our hearts tell a different story. Our actions push aside what really matters. We live with our eyes on the prize before us rather than the home that awaits us.

Hope is coming. Jesus was arrested, ridiculed, rejected and abandoned. And yet He loved us enough to conquer death and offer us a way to salvation. Hope in the midst of darkness. Hope in the midst of pain. Hope in the midst of rejection.

Reach out. Don’t you see? There is light just over the horizon. Hang on. Hope is coming.

March 25, 2016

Betrayal Hurts

47 While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, 48 but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” -- Luke 22:47-48

Have you ever been betrayed by someone close to you? It hurts, doesn’t it? Jesus certainly knows about that.

Jesus wasn’t betrayed by a stranger. He wasn’t betrayed by a religious leader threatened by His popularity. Jesus was betrayed by a man who was part of His inner circle. He was betrayed by a friend.

What’s even worse is that Jesus -- knowing everything -- knew it was coming. He knew that Judas would betray Him yet Jesus didn’t cast Judas aside. Instead, Jesus waited until Judas chose to turn on Jesus.

We think we would never do that to Jesus -- but we do. All the time. We deny Him when we choose a different path rather than the path that leads us closer to Him. We betray Jesus when we harden our hearts against the poor, the hurting, the outcast.

Do you still think you wouldn’t betray Jesus? Consider Peter. He loved Jesus. Really. Truly. Yet Peter denied Jesus three times -- just as Jesus predicted that Peter would do. It’s hard to stand firm for Jesus when the court of public opinion ridicules you or threatens your way of life.

It’s also hard to be kind to those who betray you. We must. But it isn’t easy. Have you ever worked with someone who played people off of one another? It seems like every workplace has someone like that. They enjoy stirring things up.

It’s also hard to get past someone who betrays a confidence. We’ve all been on both sides of that grief. The truth is only God is trustworthy when it comes to keeping secrets. Our circle of friends who are truly trustworthy is really quite small. We’d all do well to remember that.

Another type of betrayal is when we expect support from those closest to us and instead they turn on us. A sweet friend just went through this and her heart is broken. She needed support from her sisters and instead they unfairly -- and wrongly -- judged her. Now she has the trauma of all that happened heaped on the betrayal that came with her sisters’ disapproval.

This is Good Friday. Jesus is betrayed and crucified. Betrayed in the most horrible of ways. The resurrection hasn’t yet arrived. Hope seems lost. And, yet, it is not. There is life after the betrayal. Thank you, Jesus.