It is frighteningly easy to become so consumed by problems and unfulfilled desires that we become dull toward God. We doubt, drift, and sometimes give up.
At one time, I felt completely done with religion. I had tried, I thought, to find God. But, where was He? For many years when I was raising young children, the faith I had grown up in, the Christian faith, no longer made sense to me as I had once thought it did.
The worst time was one Easter Sunday. My husband and I decided to go to a different church in our town. We were seeking something reliable for our lives.
That day began with hope. It took a downward turn when the preacher that Easter morning said that it did not really matter if Jesus rose from the dead and walked again on the earth. He said it was the overall hope of life that mattered.
From that time, we stopped visiting churches. Several years later, my life trudging along without solid footing, I had one of my worst days ever. A co-worker dropped by my office to ask how I was doing. Usually I would say, "Fine."
That time she heard a different response. I blurted out, "Terrible!"
She left.
Soon she returned and tossed a little book onto my desk. The cover showed a huge chain, a manacle, with a large link sliced through completely. What power would be needed to break such a binding force! "Freedom!" the photo shouted.
I revisited the little book often for many days. I read and re-read one Bible verse the author had inserted:
Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness (Isaiah 41:10).
I analyzed and parsed the five promises in those 37 words. Who on earth would dare make such promises? Who on earth could fulfill them?
The Lord of heaven and earth can make such promises, and He does. God says, "Do not be afraid or confused, for I am with you and I am your God."
From that time, I lived under the influence of God speaking to my inner being. My mind returned continually to those words where He was saying that I belonged to Him. He was even promising to hold me up with His own powerful arm!
It took two years, then I walked entirely into the fullness of faith in what God had promised. During that time, I often prayed words heard as a child:
Lord, I believe, Help my unbelief (Mark 9:24).
Today, many years, miles, and experiences later, what joy Easter brings all the time. Those unexpected promises from God speak Truth every day. There is fellowship with God and with others who believe in Him and take Him at His word.
The Spirit of God continually witnesses to my spirit that Jesus is the Son of God and that I am God's child. I know that Jesus paid for my sins on the cross of Calvary that dark Friday before the first day of the week, the day of His resurrection.
The Person of the Cross of Calvary leads the Christian faith. Through His obedience, out of His love for His Father in heaven and His sin-shackled world, He overcame the darkness of death for all and for all time. In Him, there is freedom. When God speaks of His righteous right arm that promises to uphold the weak, He is speaking of His Son, Jesus.
May the Lord of the Resurrection be welcomed in many hearts, minds, and lives in these days. On the calendar is a day called Easter. It marks the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, now seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven. It is a day when Christians take joy in Christ's assurance of resurrected life for those whom He knows as His own.
Easter is the name now used for a church calendar day around the world. Its meaning has nothing to do with fancy clothes, eggs, and bunnies. Its meaning has to do with this, which Jesus said:
I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live" (John 11:35).
On the Friday of that Passover long ago, Jesus paid the price of sin to ransom all who are willing. Like the thief on a cross near Jesus, anyone who will call upon Him to be saved will be, unto eternal life. Jesus bought redemption on a dark Friday. God raised His body from the dead on that Sunday. That is Easter's meaning--that God did in Christ was He said all along, from times long before, that He would do.
God's promises are all true. The day called Easter is a day not only of hope but of assured hope--a guarantee of eternal life to those who believe in God through His Son, Jesus Christ. Easter is a day of pointing to the event and time of Christ's resurrection. Every day is a day of rejoicing in salvation for those who put their trust in Him. He and He alone defeated death!
And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.... If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept (have died). For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.... (I Corinthians 15: 17, 19-22).
Jane Bullard is the author of a true story, Not All Roads Lead Home:A story of renewed love. Jane wrote the foreword for the newly released edition of The Mourner's Comforter byC. H. Spurgeon. For her pen name, Jane borrowed one of her grandmothers' family names. You can learn more about Jane's book at OpineBooks.com and read her articles on SearchWarp.com and some of her short essays at Opinari.com, a unique blog.
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