A Day of Hope

There were other things I wanted to write about today, but tomorrow we celebrate Easter and that trumps everything! This life we live - every day we either wake up and it is a good day or we wake up and it is a bad day. We can even say it is a good morning or a bad morning...a good night or a bad night. I'm constantly reminded we never know what each second can bring into our lives. From one minute to the next, we can experience laughter or tears, riches or poverty, health or sickness, and life or death. How do we navigate through this thing called life?

As I sit here on this quiet morning and write, I'm at a peaceful place in my heart. However I can remember times of hurting in my past. I remember many heartaches: my parent's divorce, struggling in a painful marriage in my early years, being a victim of the scars of alcohol, my own divorce, watching my children pay the price of bad choices, the loss of my sweet grandmothers, the loss of my dad & I'm certain this list will continue. Even though this life will bring us pain, we have a wonderful hope in our Savior. This hope isn't just for today, but for ALL eternity. Amongst all the beautifully filled baskets, the smell of vinegar, colorful eggs, yummy ham, baked beans (always in my house), prissy dresses & new shoes, filled pews, and Easter lilies, we have the hope found in Jesus. After He walked this earth for 33 years, sharing His life, His miracles & His truths, He faced the Garden of Gethsemane. Matthew 14:32-36 "They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.” Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” Jesus died for us because it was the will of His Father. He died for us because we are all sinners and we can't come before our HOLY HEAVENLY Father without the sacrifice of His perfect and sinless Son. This was part of God's plan for us, His children. John 3:16-18 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

Easter is a picture of us being saved. Saved from what? Being saved from the sin that is in each one of us, saved from facing our heartaches alone, saved from continually making bad choices and suffering the consequences that come with them, saved from hurting others, saved from hurting ourselves, saved from turmoil in our souls, saved from the lies Satan tries to tell us, saved from continually trying to find meaning in life, saved from fear, saved from anger, saved from lack of confidence and courage, saved from depression, saved from discouragement, saved from doubt, saved from resentment, saved from loneliness, saved from pride, saved from temptation, saved from worry, and most importantly saved from separation from our Heavenly Father & spending eternity in Hell. Oh, what a Savior! We are given the greatest hope through what Jesus did for each one of us on the cross. Stealing from the words of Rick Warren, Easter involves three days. Those days include the Friday, Saturday & Sunday. Friday was a day of suffering, pain & death as Jesus was put to death. Saturday was a day of doubt and confusion as He laid in the tomb. Sunday was a day of celebration, hope and rejoicing because he arose. Our lives are very much the same. We will have days of suffering. We will have days of doubt. However, praise God because of Jesus and what He did for us, we get our days of CELEBRATION! HAPPY EASTER!