There Will Be An Easter

Most days when I sit at my computer to write, as I pray and lift my heart to God the words simply flow. Most days when writing, my struggle is how to end. But today is not like most writing days. It hasn’t been like “most days” for quite a while now. We are indeed living in unprecedented times.

            There is a pandemic killing people indiscriminately all across the globe. I no longer listen to the numbers because it is just too heartbreaking. We’ve all been told to socially distance ourselves; to stay at home. Tissue paper has become a hot commodity and the stock markets have taken a nose-dive. Someone told me they’d heard of an individual who was shot because they coughed without covering their mouth. No, these days are not like most days.

            Still, I have hope. I have hope because I know the God I serve. I have hope because no matter who sits in the White House or who serves on Capitol Hill or in any other governing body, God sits on the throne. And because He sits on the throne, I trust and believe there will be an Easter. Please read the following excerpt from my book, “From The Shepherd’s Heart.”

There Will Be An Easter

            Easter is the time Christians celebrate the resurrection of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is a season of joy and of hope and of victory. It is a time of brightness and peace and joy that follows a time of darkness and grief or pain. For Jesus, it was the day God exalted Him above the expectations of the people who one day exclaimed, “Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:9) only to later turn around and say, “Let him be crucified.” (Matthew 27:22)

            In Acts 12:11, Peter had an Easter experience. He had been imprisoned by Herod and was waiting to be executed. But Peter no doubt knew the words of Psalms 34:6-7 and cried out to God, trusting God would save him out of all his troubles. He had no doubt learned that God delivers the righteous out of all their troubles. (See Psalm 34:17-19)

            Because Peter knew these things, he looked beyond his black Friday, or day of crucifixion, to his resurrection or day of deliverance. He was no doubt looking for and believing there would be an Easter. And there was. In Acts 12:11, Peter’s expectations were met when the Lord sent his angel and delivered Peter from the hands of his enemy.

            Peter’s story gives us hope because God is no respecter of persons. (See Acts 10:34.) What He did for one person, He’ll do for you and me. He did it for Lazarus in John 11, and He did it for a man who had suffered with an infirmity for 38 years in John 5. And if we put our trust in God, there will be an Easter.

            This week, over two thousand years ago, things were not quite as the disciples of Christ thought they would be. Some call this day of Holy Week “Spy Wednesday” because it is the day Judas sold Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. The next day, after eating the Passover meal with Him, he would betray Him with a kiss. And on the day after that, on the day we now call “Good Friday,” Jesus would be crucified. But there would be an Easter.

            Today in our world things aren’t looking so good. There is so much sickness, and death, and loss. But there will be an Easter. I don’t know how long this thing is going to last. But there will be an Easter. I pray that I see our Easter in the land of the living without experiencing great suffering or loss, but however I see it I know there will be an Easter. Because Jesus was crucified and buried but got up on the third day, there will be an Easter. There will be a resurrection.

            So, in the words of Hillsong United’s song, “Highlands (Song of Ascent)”:

Oh I will praise You on the mountain
And I will praise you when the mountain's in my way
You're the summit where my feet are
So I will praise You in the valleys all the same
No less God within the shadows
No less faithful when the night leads me astray
Cause You're the Heaven where my heart is
In the highlands and the heartache all the same

Let us pray. Father God in Heaven, we come to you with our trials and our pains. We come to you in our suffering and our grief. We come to you on our Friday with the assurance that there will be an Easter Sunday. Let us, like Christ, rise from our graves and be exalted above our enemies, the enemies of sickness, and disease, viruses, and fear. We believe and have the faith to know there will be an Easter – help us overcome any unbelief. In Jesus’s Name, amen.