"The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." Lamentations 3:25-26
During the past 17 years of knowing Jesus Easter is still my very favorite holiday. It may have been my favorite as kid, too because it was so full of FUN- coloring eggs together on Saturday night (each person would get an egg with their name on it, even our multiple pets!), waking up on Sunday to discover an Easter basket full of jelly beans, chocolate and marshmallow Peeps and then the hunt to find all those eggs that had been hidden (Mom always had to write a list of where they were because there were so many!). Later in the day cousins and grandparents and the drug dealers who had become like family would all come to our house and we'd eat a big meal and....well, things usually went downhill after that. There was always all the fun first though and each year brought with it the hope that the holiday would end differently than the year before.
And now, even more as an adult, I love what Easter means! A day set aside to celebrate what Jesus has done for us, WOOHOO!!! Literally, I can not and do not even want to imagine my life without Him. He CONQUERED DEATH and went through such extreme torture and torment to do it. I can only find hope and love in Him because of that. He endured pain to the point of sweating blood and I have never experienced that kind of pain, this tells me that He understands pain that is more unbearable than I can conceive which means that He certainly understands all of the pain I go through. That's comforting. I really, really, really love Jesus and celebrating Him.
So, I go to church on Easter and I worship, sing victory and shout hallelujah with all of my very being because I get what He has done for me! I know without a doubt that my life is worth living, that He is worthy of praise, He deserves glory that compares to none other!!! He lights my paths, He gives me deep rooted joy, He reigns over my whole life so I can experience peace, He sees me as holy and righteous because of who He is!!!
Yes, let's celebrate Jesus!!!
And yet... I'm still waiting for more. And so is He. It's Sunday, He rose from the grave, He is alive, alive forevermore and I will be with Him for eternity.... But, there's more... Jesus and me, we are waiting. Together. For more.
We, me and Jesus, are waiting on this day of celebrating His resurrection....
We are waiting for loved ones to recognize the gift He gave.
Jesus' loved ones who He gave His life for.
My loved ones.
And perhaps you are waiting with Jesus too for some loved ones to recognize the celebration.
The sweet, good news is we don't wait alone you and I...
We wait with Him.
My heart aches so much on Easter. Seriously aches, like the kind of ache you get from wisdom teeth times infinity.... I long for the ones close to my heart, the ones God designed to be so close to my heart, to know Him. If only they would choose to taste for just a second how much better He makes life, they would not be able to deny Him so easily. "Choose", though, that word is important for my heart to remember this Easter. Jesus gave this gift out of love, He doesn't force anyone to take what He offers. Instead He waits for each person to look at Him and receive the best gift ever. Receiving involves choice. And, just as my heart has that wisdom-tooth-times-infinity-ache His heart aches even more because He knows fully and completely what He has given.
It's so comforting to know that He waits, He understands the pain, He has His own longings for the ones I love because He loves them. He won't quit waiting either. He will never give up, He has already proven that through His suffering. I don't wait alone and when I'm weary from waiting (like today) He encourages me through His own waiting.
So, yep, me and Jesus we will wait together for our loved ones to join us in celebrating resurrection. Jesus waits with you too. He knows your longing, He knows your aching (maybe yours isn't like wisdom teeth but maybe you describe it as bumping your funny bone or stubbing your toe or maybe even a migraine....whatever the pain is like He gets it and He aches too) and He is with you in it.
"The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." Lamentations 3:25-26
