Encouragement

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HE LIVES!

Have you ever been at that point where the future is in one word, Hopeless? It appears every thing and everyone has turned against you. When you turn around, friends have deserted you and family is nowhere in sight…You look at the promise of tomorrow and you see only agony. You review the joys of yesterday and that too is now filled with regret. Everyone is blaming you, “You should have known better”, “we didn’t expect this of you”, “what on earth were you thinking?” Hopeless. Just like Good Friday, isn’t it?

In real terms, there is nothing good about Good Friday. There is nothing good about your best friends getting into a fight with the state army. There is nothing good about your best friends running away when you are arrested for no just reason. There is nothing good about your best friends denying they have ever met you. Call it rejection. That’s Good Friday.

There is nothing good about watching your eldest son wrongfully accused and molested. It is a heart-rending scene when his clothes are taken off. Imagine the tears as his back is torn and the flesh brutally mangled from the swipe of the arm by muscular soldiers eager to please their boss, the crowd and their own sickened minds. Imagine the sneering from the crowd, the mockery of justice and the open bribery to condemn this son of yours. That is Good Friday.

Imagine if this same guy had been to your house a couple of weeks earlier, where he had resurrected your only brother after having been dead for four whole days. Imagine the fear and tension when you hear of his arrest and torture; imagine it when you see his face in contortions of pain as sweat and blood drips down his face. That is Good Friday. Hopeless.

But then, imagine if you are involved in the tussle and your ear is sliced off by an angry fisherman. You are thankful that he missed his target which was to slice your neck. But suddenly, imagine if someone picks this lobe, cleans off the sand and without any strings or sutures fixes back your ears. Imagine if this man is the same person you came to beat and arrest. That too is GOOD Friday.

Imagine if you are a condemned prisoner, marking time on death row. Every time the doors are opened it is the hangman, come to snuff out one more life. Imagine if this morning the hangman comes and calls out your name, but no, this time, he sets you free, absolutely free! That too is GOOD Friday.

The Good thing about this Friday is that it is not the end but the beginning; the beginning of a new phase, a new joy, a new life, a new you. It is the labour before the birth, the darkest hour before the dawn; the pain before the gain, the sweat before the sweet, the cross before the crown. Painful, but GOOD.

If a sister walks in with that long face indicating that she has a problem, just tell her she’s having a Good Friday. If you are facing a challenge personally and it seems it will never go away, think about it for a while and reassure yourself, it’s just another Good Friday. It too, will pass. And afterwards, what bliss!

“…come see the grave where He lay, He is no longer here. Death where is your sting? Grave where is your victory? Christ has risen that we might get up, once and for all! He lives!” Hopelessness has given birth to New Hope; anguish has given birth to Joy, depression has given birth to Exaltation. He Lives!

In his death, is your birth. in his pain is your gain. His cross is your plus... Let us therefore come boldly into the throneroom... for He Lives!

It is no longer a gloomy Friday, It is EASTER! The Cross is gone, the grave is history, the price is paid – in full! It is finished!

He lives! And so do you!


Happy Easter!

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