Today is Easter, Resurrection Day, the peak day of celebration for the Christian community around the world. And I don't know why, but every year I anticipate throughout Lent the celebration that this particular day of the year is going to be- shouts of jubilation and praise because Jesus has conquered Death and made all things new. I mean, Easter is the One Day where all things should go right... right? And yet, here in my one little corner of the world, they're not going right (at least how i think they should). I've got two kids still getting over fever viruses, the baby coming down with croup, a clogged milk duct that is trying to turn into mastitis, a kitchen overflowing with dishes and food, dirty diapers strewn throughout the house, and bad attitudes by everyone. I even had to miss church this morning from being up half the night with croupy baby and swollen breast. Everything in me is saying, "This is not what Easter should be!"
And the problem doesn't exist just in my household. This week's headlines prove that suffering, injustice, corruption, and brokenness still pervade every single aspect of our life on Earth, whether through horrific atrocities, broken families, or just the dysfunction of my own heart and home. Even on Easter, life is still life. My sin is still sin, and I can't will myself (or anyone else in my family) to "get it together and have good attitudes because today is Easter, and it's a day of celebration, darn it!"
Thankfully, what I can do (which is completely contrary to my nature, but a direct result of the Resurrection) is see Him in the mundane and the fractures. It is a day to celebrate that Jesus has overcome Death, and YES...established a new kingdom. It's not the Kingdom I want it to be right now. But that's okay. He is God and I am not. He didn't set up a Kingdom in the way that everyone expected Him to when they realized He was the prophesied One, chosen to come and redeem the world. So, why should I expect that He would do things the way I think they should go (which by the way, would include kids in seer-sucker suits, pastel dresses, jubilant faces, and a buffet of everyone's favorite food, but with no dishes to clean up afterward...)?
But really, that is the point of Easter, right?
It is God reminding us that, "Yes, this is not how things should be. It's not how I created them to be. And you can never will life to be beautiful out of your own strength and stamina. But, this is the Reason that I sent my Son to come and die. So that Beauty would be made manifest from brokenness, and your distorted view of beauty would blossom to include the hurts and pain of life."
And, so today, I choose to yield my will and my desires to His, and pray for the eyes to see His beauty this Resurrection Day. My eldest child came in this morning and said, "Mama, heaven is glorious and I can not wait to go there. It's for REAL, you know." Now, before you start thinking that my child is an angel, I should tell you that this sentence was sandwiched between two other sentences. The first was "Mama, I NEED my hair in a bun because when it is down it makes my neck HOT...and I can't stand it when my neck is HOT!!". Then there was the "heaven sentence", and then there was, "I don't want to take a shower because I am going to be COLD afterward and I HATE being cold!" I laugh at the sequence now (I was not laughing at the time), but this example of self-centeredness intermingled with heavenly yearning really IS what what Easter is about. When Jesus hung on that cross, He also was sandwiched right in between two examples of what this world is all about: ourselves. And He hung there in order to usher in a Kingdom that is glorious and is REAL and the antithesis of selfishness. He paid for our selfishness with the price of emptying His complete self. Heaven has come and Heaven is yet to come. This world is the same as what it was 2000 years ago, with its hatred and cruel injustices, and it is different than what it was 2000 years ago, vastly different because of what took place on this day. Because of His Resurrection, we now have the Spirit of Jesus residing in us, which allows us to rejoice in all things, and earnestly wait for that glorious Day when all things will be made right again (which I'm convinced will be so much more glorious than seer-sucker suits and pastel dresses...).
{This is Life.}
.: celebrating, hoping, & waiting :.
Addendum: Thankfully, our Easter did get "better" in that we were able to enjoy a nice Easter lunch and Easter egg hunt with teammates. However, I'm still grateful that even on Easter God allows us to still struggle to see Him when things don't go the way that we ourselves would desire them to. He is STILL just as much there and present, reminding us of redemption and His promise to one day make all things right again.
"Therefore, my heart is glad and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
Psalm 16:9-11
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