You Have A Resurrection Coming!

Good news.  Beyond Easter, is Eastertide!

Even if you are not an observer of the liturgical year -- biblically -- Easter is far more than a single day -- it's an ongoing season, and way of life -- as we continue to expect life to be birthed out of death. 

Wendall Berry refers to this as 'practicing resurrection'; Harold Bender references it as 'walking in the resurrection."  

For "...what a God we have!” Peter exclaims in 1 Peter 1, “…because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life, and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven -- and -- [a] future [that] starts now!...” (1 Peter 1:3, The Message, emphasis added).

The core of that prospect is the consumption of the 'worst of the worst' (death), by the triumph of Easter Day.  To be precise: “Death has been swallowed up in victory…”  (1 Corinthians 15:54).   Literally, the word swallow means to devour.  Thus, there’s no need to waver during Eastertide; any grave problem can be given to God and swallowed up!  Sure: it’s always in God’s time.  But in God’s time ‘the worst of the worst’ is 'gobbled up'!

A friend once asked me to offer my best advice for facing into life trauma, in three words or less. I provided just two:  'keep moving.'  For since I have a Savior who can devour my death, I have a companion who can empower my journey.

The trauma of Israel was intense, with frequent episodes of suffering.  One locale identified with suffering was the Valley of Baca.   As a Palestinian valley leading to Jerusalem, the Valley of Baca was a common travel route whenever the Israelites ‘marched to Zion.’  But the Valley of Baca continually reminded them, that Zion (e.g. Jerusalem as symbolic of restoration and glory) could not be reached without travail, for the Valley of Baca was a “…arid and inhospitable route…a toilsome pathway.” Dutch Sheets.  God’s Timing For Your Life.  Seeing the Seasons of Your Life Through God’s Eyes.  (Ventura:  Regal, 2001) 45.  No wonder then, the word Baca meant literally, “to weep”  

Yet, in spite of such sorrow, the Israelite people keep moving through the Valley of Baca, experiencing the strength of the Lord.  The Sons of Korah underscore this, in memorable words.

“Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.  As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs…They go from strength to strength till each appears before God in Zion…” (Psalm 84:5-7, emphasis added).

It’s important to note “…the Hebrew word for strength is the word chayil, from the root word chuwl…”  But as Dutch Sheets goes on to note:

“Chuwl is [actually] the Old Testament word for travail or giving birth to something.  [So] when we walk by faith and persevere through the hard places, God can use these difficult times to birth (chuwl) new places of strength (chayil) in us.  Yes, they may result from travail and times and struggle…[but] when we pass through the Valley of Baca (weeping) we can make it a spring.  Our destiny is not…Baca, it is the flight of freedom and victory.  The dry, barren places in our lives can become places from which the river of life flows and new strength is born.” (emphasis added)  Dutch Sheets.  God’s Timing For Your Life.  Seeing the Seasons of Your Life Through God’s Eyes.  (Ventura:  Regal, 2001) 45. 

And so, the Israelite people keep moving, through the Valley of Baca and other arid, toilsome terrain.  For they did conclude, God would utilize difficult times to birth (chuwl) new places of strength (chavil), amid our days. 

And so the Israelites were receptive when they were rallied to persevere, nevertheless.  Prophet Isaiah was especially valiant. “…Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, ‘Be strong, do not fear, your God will come…”  (Isaiah 35: 3-4). 

Yes, God will come!  Not just for the Israelites, but for us, as well.   For difficult times, will birth new beginnings and new places of strength.  

For Eastertide reminds us, there are no dead ends in Christ.  Yes, there are long, toilsome valleys, that feel forever.  But valleys that eventually lead to Zion, and the birth of stronger, resurrected days.  

And so, strengthen feeble hands.   Steady knees that give way.  Say to a fearful heart:  be strong, do not fear.  For God will come.  

Keep moving; walk in Christ's resurrection power!

A while back, John Ortberg struggled to convey the promise of walking in Christ's resurrection power. Then a Divine promise surfaced in Orberg's heart:  'you have a resurrection coming.'  Whatever your lot – whatever your circumstance – whatever your season of life – ‘you have a resurrection coming!’   

To the elderly person whose health is frail, almost gone, you don’t have to live in fear.  You have a resurrection coming.  To the devastated husband whose wife has left him, feeling betrayed, you don’t have to feel like a loser.  You have a resurrection coming.  To the frightened parents of a depressed child who blame themselves, you don’t have to live in shame.  You have a resurrection coming.  To the anxious worker who has lost his job, devastated by unemployment, you don’t need to feel like a failure.  You have resurrection coming.  To the lonely young person, longing to be loved, you don’t have to feel ‘second best,’ living in isolation.  ‘You have a resurrection coming.’  - (John Ortberg, The World’s Greatest Step, adapted.)

And you?  You have a resurrection coming!’  Whatever your lot, whatever your circumstance, whatever your season of life, you have a resurrection coming.    For Jesus is 'spot-on':  “In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world.”  (John 16:33, emphasis added). 

Let Jesus overcome your world!  Wherever life is trying to bury you, let Jesus raise you!   For Paul is accurate:  “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised…Jesus from the dead will also give [you] life…” (Romans 8:11, ESV), raising you up, as well.    

Tim Keller tells of Italian cynic who doubted the 'resurrection revolution.'  In fact, he went to great lengths to guarantee he would not participate in any possible resurrection, either spiritual or literal.  Why not only did he renounce the risen Christ, he pre-arranged for a strong stone boulder to be placed over his grave inscribed with bold words:  I will not rise; I’ll stay put, dead!  But unbeknownst to the man, in the course of his burial, an acorn fell into his grave.  Well, at first nothing happened – but over time – the acorn grew and grew.   And so now, a hundred years later, the acorn is full-blown, a strong, towering tree -- that has literally split open the strong stone on the man’s grave!  – Tim Keller, adapted.

New life always prevails, splitting open the strongest stone!  And it's readily available through the risen Lord, who is not just a historic reality, but a living hope -- providing "... [a] future [that] starts now!...” (1 Peter 1:3, The Message, emphasis added). 

And so walk in that future and that hope.  For you do have a resurrection coming!