As we continue through Holy Week, I have been so encouraged as I have been diving deep into the events of the last week of Jesus’ life (see this post and this post for some great gospel-centered ideas for Easter!) I have been reflecting on how timely it is for Easter to be coming around at this time. As we all are experiencing an upheaval of normal life and routine because of coronavirus, Easter is just what we need to focus our attention on- or rather, Jesus is exactly who our hearts need to be dwelling on.
There are many other things that have our attention right now, and rightly so- life has been full of change, heartache, and pain for many across the globe- but who are we finding our rest and our peace in during this time? Where are we finding our joy? Who/what has captured our attention?
During hard times, I have found that I can respond in many different ways. At times I run to God with nothing else to run to, while other times I feel hopeless and confused and get lost in my own thoughts and ways. But it is during these times that I have realized that if I don’t turn to God in trust and surrender, then I just simply won’t make it. I have to lean on Him and not my own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6). I have to trust in His unchanging character, pray His promises, and lean into Him with all I’ve got. This doesn’t mean we don’t mourn or struggle through things, it means we welcome mourning as we struggle through it WITH God as we lean into Him to hold us up. We allow HIM to be our peace and to capture our attention.
I’ve been so challenged this week as I’ve looked deeply at Jesus’ last week on earth and how deeply He cares for people. He wept as He saw the depravity of men as He approached Jerusalem on a donkey. He wept in the garden as He asked God to “take this cup” from Him, but in the end desired God’s will and not His own, knowing that God’s will would accomplish the redemption of those who would trust in Him. He trusted God as He looked toward the most agonizing death that awaited Him. But He knew this was the plan and so,”for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2). In all of these things, He brought all of this before His Father, leaned into His strength, and desired His will to be done.
Jesus came to earth in order to restore peace with God. He IS our peace. He came that we might have joy to the full. He IS our joy. But how can we find peace and joy in Him when the world is chaos around us?
We can trust in God’s character. We can trust in a God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is sovereign, good, and in control over all the unknowns we are experiencing- we can trust Him.
We can trust in a God who loves us so much that He sent His Son to make a way for us to find peace with God. Our ultimate peace comes from Christ who made the way for us when He took the penalty of our sin that we deserved by dying a horrific death on a cross. But death could not hold Him, for He is more powerful than sin and death. On the third day, He rose again and overcame sin and death!
We can lean on our living Savior who is interceding for us. He says to come to Him and He will give us rest as we cast our burdens on Him. (Matthew 11:28) He calls us to cast our cares on Him because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). And He promises that when we do this, He will give us His peace (Philippians 4:6-7).
We can run to Him when we are weak. God is all we need and sufficient to be our strength when we are weak. God is our “refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). We can run to Him who is our strength and refuge. As we lean on Him, HE is our peace, our joy, and our ultimate hope.
We can meditate on His Word day and night (Joshua 1:8). We must cling to the promises of God, memorize and meditate on His Word all throughout the day, and pray His Word back to Him. As we do this, our hearts are shaped by God’s words to us and He changes our hearts toward peace, joy, and hope in His name.
So, as we continue down the road of Holy Week this week, stopping to remember and dwell on all that Christ has done for us, let us especially turn our attention to Jesus, the only one who can bring us ultimate peace, joy, and hope. Let us celebrate big, lean into Him with our cares, and turn our attention off of ourselves and our circumstances and onto Christ who is worthy of all glory and honor and praise!