Today on this holy day of Easter I have to admit that it's been really hard to focus this past week on what many call holy week with all that has been taking place in the world. My days are all running together and I feel like schedules and normalcy are part of a distant past life. Even so, God reminded me this week that no matter what craziness we are going through right now, Jesus endured the ultimate storm and came out of it victorious and so, we can too.
This Week's Scripture Focus: Zechariah 2:13
"Be still before the LORD, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling."
It's Easter Ya'll! For us as God's children, it's our most adored and holy celebrations. It's the celebration of how Jesus saved our souls, but just what did he actually have to face in order to do that? We've been talking about storms this month and how to survive them, but honestly, nothing we face in any part of our lives is as big of a storm as Jesus went through during his sacrifice and payment for our sins.
Imagine riding into Jerusalem on a donkey watching everyone cheer and worship you as their messiah only to literally rise and fall in 5 days time to a point where you were now being crucified on a cross as an innocent man. Jesus knew this too. He didn't ride into the city thinking it would last. He knew what was ahead of him. He knew the suffering he was going to have to endure for us and yet he chose to go straight through that storm anyway. He knew that each person that was worshipping him as he rode into the city would be the same faces that would rather release a true criminal than let him live and yet he loved them anyway. He put aside his knowledge of betrayal and brutality to just love, and because of that love we can now call ourselves children of God. How blessed are we?
The story doesn't stop there though. He rose again on the third day and proved he was the savior that he said he was all along. This rising is how I feel about what is going on in the world today. I feel like God is "rousing himself from his holy dwelling" and moving in a way right now that we can't even fathom. He is taking families and bringing them back together at dinner tables, he is healing the environment in ways we haven't seen in centuries and he is slowing life down for all of us so we can "be still" if even just for a moment to see the beauty of the present. I heard someone say the other day that depression is because we live in the past and anxiety is because we live in the future but if we take time to live in the present we can see God's vision and beauty directly in front of us. I believe that is what he is doing for us in this time of crisis. Let's take time to appreciate it for what it is.
So as we celebrate our savior today, remember that he endured the ultimate storm so that we could now be saved from a certain death and eternity in hell because he loved us. Surely we can take time to endure this storm to slow down and be present in his beauty.
Application:
1. What are some things you are now doing that you didn't have time to do before the quarantine?
2. List 10 things that make you joyful. This can be anything from reading a good book to traveling the world.
3. Make a point to do at least 2 things on that list this week. (obviously traveling the world can't be one of them this week but other things can be)
4. Thank God for his "rousing" he is doing in the world and look for opportunities to see the beauty in this slower pace.
Until next time, keep striving to be the amazing woman of God he created you to be.
