[mashshare]

Like many of you, I’ve been thinking a lot about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ this week. Of the many wonders of his life, Easter represents the miracle of miracles.

No matter how many times I’ve read them, those three words still bring chills.

HE IS RISEN.

But Christ’s Resurrection wasn’t meant to stand alone as a glorious anomaly to be studied, praised, and never repeated.

Those three words are more than a headline. They are a promise.

Because he is risen, we too shall rise again.

It is a gift given to every single one of us, but he’s the only one who knows when we’ll open it.

Still, what if we’re missing something?

What is the message of the Resurrection is about more than reuniting of body and soul?

What if the process of rising again begins today?

I’m thinking of a friend who lost his job yet again through no fault of his own. He’s feeling deflated, devalued and demoralized. He wonders if he’s been knocked out for the final time.

I’m imagining a young man who recently lost a friend to suicide and who’s been struggling to find his new normal. He feels rudderless, alone, and riddled with regret.

There’s another friend who’s fighting to say farewell to a bad habit. This addiction has been a constant companion for so long he feels like he’s trying to ship away a brother he loves.

I worry about a couple locked in the middle rounds of a painful divorce. Both are battered, bruised and nearly broken. Once healthy hearts that pounded with love are bleeding loneliness.

In each case, these children of God have moments when it seems as if a giant rock has been rolled in front of their final resting place.

You can almost hear their whispers.

“I cannot overcome.”

“I am done trying.”

“I cannot rise again.”

Maybe we hear the whispers so well because they belong to us?

Many of us have moments when we feel emotionally whipped by winds beyond our control. We suffer abuse, neglect, intolerance, physical pain, mocking over our looks, beliefs, or ancestry.

You might be reading this right now and thinking that your own saving miracle is too far away to lean on. You’re alone, in the dark, and powerless. But rising again doesn’t need to wait until body and soul reunite.

We can come alive spiritually today!

Christ is willing to move the rock right now. All he requires is our heart and will.

Christ is desperate to help us rise. He longs for us to pray, to surrender our sorrows, our guilt, our habits, and heartache.

He is the hope!

If we choose to spiritually rise today, he will not leave our side as we step from the tomb into the light. He will join my friend as he looks yet again for work and reminds him that his value is divine. He will comfort those dealing with loss. He will soothe pains of addiction and contention.

If we seek, we will find.

If we rise, he will lead.

Rejoice! A marvelous physical Resurrection is coming. But we need not wait for that miracle to rise again in every other way.

It can begin today.

[mashshare]