An Easter meditation from Janet (WT Brazil):
My family and I serve with World Team in Manaus, Brasil. Like many missionaries right now, we were unable to return to the field because of flights and airports shutting down due to the COVID pandemic. So we are temporarily marooned in Massachusetts until circumstances allow us to return.
Here in New England, it is spring. As my children and I were taking our daily stroll around our home, we couldn’t help but notice the new green shoots emerging from the ground. Among them were yellow daffodils, one of the earliest signs of spring’s arrival. After a long cold winter, we welcome their vibrant color to the landscape. I shared with my children how as a child, I watched with great anticipation for their blooms to appear because it meant that a new season was coming.
This small moment with my children gave me pause to reflect on the higher truth mirrored in the creation around me. As winter passes, gray winter months give way to green as new buds emerge from tree branches and spring up from the ground. Bleakness gives way to beauty and slowly flowers push their way through the earth. Hard soil softens as the ground warms and gentle rain provides the sustenance for plants, flowers and trees to grow and bloom. All that seemed dead was really just asleep….waiting for the proper time to re-awaken and be birthed anew.
C.S. Lewis once wrote “Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead.” As we prepare to remember Christ’s death and resurrection, maybe it’s time to ask ourselves, “What in me needs to die?” In other words, what things do we need to metaphorically lay down in the grave so that we can live an abundant, resurrected life? What is hindering you from walking in the fullness of your new life in Christ?
As I have been adapting to the new rhythm of life that the COVID-19 pandemic has forced most of us into, I have found myself at times just as easily distracted by many things that do not feed my soul. And I have discovered how times of crisis like this one reveal where my trust and hope really lies. I have felt convicted to put down my phone and stop getting caught up in things that I can’t control (that somehow make me feel like I’m in control?). Does anyone get that?!
What I have been learning lately from years on the mission field and now this COVID crisis is that times of crisis reveal where my hope lies. Our sense of security and control is lowered and this new vulnerability can create all kinds of emotions. Is something causing anxiety? Anger? Fear? Depression? There’s a reason I am having those emotions. Something is threatening my security or sense of control. I encourage you to take this time to reflect and do a soul-check, to spend time with Jesus and His Word and allow it to speak to your anxieties, worries, fears and frustrations.
And what better time to deny ourselves (whether intentionally or because we are being made to) than the Lenten season? Let’s not waste this precious time. May we look back one day and say to our children or family and friends, “Remember that time of quarantine? Remember how God moved in us? How He awakened His church to the things that really matter? How things changed not just for bad but for good?” After all, that is the Gospel message: Redeeming the time that we are given by living for the glory of God. In that you can guarantee, that nothing will ever be wasted.
As our hearts are reminded even more that we live in a broken world, let them also cry out with all creation for the Risen Lord to come like the sun rising on a glorious spring morning and once again make all things new.
Filed under: Cross of Christ, Easter, Resurrection | 2 Comments »
Thoughts Along The Journey 