Easter Joy!

"Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved and said, 'They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!' So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running . . . . Simon Peter saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, went inside. He saw and believed." [John 20: 1-9].

"He saw and believed." I suppose that we could argue all day long, 'What are the most important words in the Bible?'

"Seeing and believing."  Our Faith certainly begins with this. These are very important words!  And yet, oddly, what did the Other Disciple see, exactly? Nothing! Literally, the absence of our Lord! Merely the burial cloths, the indirect evidence of where Jesus had been.

There is confusion, because the disciples can barely comprehend what has just happened. Jesus is gone! Who took him away? Out of their confusion, they run around, to the tomb, away from the tomb, to tell the other disciples. Perhaps they are somewhat in a panic.

There is the fear. What is going on here? Who took Jesus away from us?

Then Faith takes over, at least in the mind of the Other Disciple. His belief was based on what he could NOT see. Faith is believing in something we cannot see!

Faith takes us out of that dark place, that time in the morning when the sky is still mostly black and we cannot see clearly around us.

Faith anchors us. We can stop racing around in our confusion. We can be still.  We can look and see. And believe.

How many times have I been lost and confused and in a dark place? How many times have I focused only on the "burial cloths" in my life: on the literal absence of comfort, teaching, wisdom, hope, love in my life.

And yet, all those things I needed have been there, just not in the place I first searched. They have not been "on the ground".

They have been up above, with Jesus. And with God. There is true joy in that!

In Colossians 3:1-4, Paul says, "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. . . Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature."

The times I have encountered true joy, are the times I have fully experienced a Redemption. I have walked through dark places, clinging to my Faith, praying to God for help, looking up, not down.

The time I almost lost my son, only to hear the news that he would still be ours, on this earth. I cried tears of joy. I like to think that I placed this plea in God's hands and He "heard" my faith.

Or the time I was told that my husband might have terminal cancer. When the call came that all was well, I sobbed so hard, I could not speak. Total Joy!

Or the time that I almost lost my life in a violent crime. I prayed to God and miraculously I lived!

What are YOUR "burial cloths"? Pain? Loss? Despair? Confusion? Doubt? Fear? Do you wear these as your lifelong mantle? Or do you seek Joy?

I admit that often, I am weighted down by my "burial cloths". Often, it feels almost impossible to shed the pain, the despair, the fear, in the place where I dwell. But I find that if I shift my glance, the same way that the stone shifted away from Jesus' tomb, I can find my Faith again.

In my times of Faith, I can see more clearly the Redemptions in my life. Maybe your Redemptions are not as dramatic as mine. But they are there! Do you bask in the spring sunshine, or smile in delight at the flowers pushing up from the earth? Do you see the renewal of life in the sweet face of your child or grandchild? Do you revel at the hope of a second chance: a new job; or a relationship repaired?

If you find that your Redemption is lost or missing, don't wallow in your burial cloths. Look up and express your faith. See and Believe!

Faith ------>  Joy!!

Easter Joy to you all!

(c) The Spiritual Devotional 2011. All Rights Reserved.