Monday, April 21

Something Alone God Can See

Rev. Tim Travers

Reading

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT)

Reflection

Yesterday, we celebrated Easter Sunday. Easter not only commemorates the loving sacrifice Jesus made on the cross, but also the victory Jesus claimed when he rose from the dead. That victory is for us—and in us—just as much as it was for the people of Jesus’ day.

It’s hard for us to comprehend the full meaning of that victory and what it means for our lives. Fully accepting that such a victory belongs to us—because we belong to Christ—is something we must lean toward, grow into, and spend time with.

Clearly, Christ’s victory over death doesn’t mean we won’t die. Dying is part of what it means to be human. We know our days on earth are limited. But even death is not the end—it’s a doorway to a new beginning, something more wonderful than we’ve ever known or seen. God knows it and sees it, and God is already working it in you and me.

The Kingdom of God is how we live in communion with God and others right now. And it’s also the communion we will know even more fully after our days on earth are completed. On one hand, it can be difficult to imagine heaven. On the other hand, we already carry within us glimpses of what the fullness of God’s Kingdom on earth looks like—because we’ve seen it in how Jesus embodied love: in life, in death, and in life beyond death.

In my ministry, I sometimes have the opportunity to encourage people who are experiencing such darkness that it feels impossible to keep hoping—for resurrection, new life, and fresh beginnings. Yet even darkness can be the place where new life emerges. After all, the darkness of the tomb gave way to the resurrection of Christ. So even from the shadows of our pain, grief, and doubt, God can bring forth new light, hope, love, and life.

The third stanza of Natalie Sleeth’s Hymn of Promise has been with me in quiet meditation lately:
In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity;
in our doubt, there is believing; in our life, eternity.
In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory,
unrevealed until its season—something God alone can see.

Is there something you need to give over to God, because you can’t see how it could be made new? Picture being with a friend or loved one, and suddenly the power goes out, plunging everything into darkness. What would you do? Probably, you’d talk to them and reach out for them. That’s exactly what you can do when you feel lost in spiritual darkness. Talk to Jesus and reach out to him. In time, Christ will guide you toward new hope and new life.

As Sleeth writes, it may be “unrevealed until its season—something God alone can see.”

Prayer
Jesus, King of my heart, work in me your light, love, and life. I belong to you, so I belong to the resurrection. In your timing, Lord, reveal your new beginnings in me and in my walk of faith. When I’m in darkness, help me reach out to you and let you guide me. Amen.