Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice!

This is a post that most people would have expected yesterday, on Easter. But I found myself trying to rush to write this post rather than letting the words flow organically. I just couldn't write what I felt like this joyous day deserved until I had thought about it. And even now I cannot promise that it will be great, but I am going to try.Easter is an incredible day. Think about it--Jesus who had been brutally killed three days prior has risen, and is alive again! "Why do you look for the living among the dead?" (Luke 24:5). As a child I never really grasped this concept, maybe even last year the impact of this event never really resonated. Rejoice, for he has risen. He has risen indeed.As I worshiped yesterday in my home church, I listened as my pastor discussed hope and Christian hope. The points he made were valid, what does hope mean to us in a world that is dark, full of despair, and hatred? As I listened to the sermon and as I talked to my mother at lunch today I realized what I think. I think that because of Jesus we are free to hope--free to hope for a beautiful and loving future. And have faith that all the wrong in the world will be righted. Jesus died and rose again so that we are free to hope and know that love will conquer everything. So my brothers and sisters I think that this year for me Easter means that we can have confidence in our hope, confidence in love, and confidence in our Lord. That even though our journeys may at times be dark, full of pain, and even at times seem impossible--we should still have hope.John 16:33"I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!"This got me to reflect. I have written about this before--this wonderful feeling that we describe as joy. Things are never going to be one hundred percent right in our lives and sometimes times are worse than others. It is hard for us to be happy. Happiness can, to me, be found with shallow things and can be fleeting. But joy is not a shallow feeling and it is not as fleeting as happiness. Joy is not as easy to achieve, you cannot just buy a new pair of shoes (or whatever material thing you can buy that would bring happiness) and expect it to bring joy. No, joy is something that is so much better and so much more real. Even in our darkest moments I believe we can find joy.Joy happens when you recognize that despite our hardest trials and darkest despairs, God is present with us loving us, guiding us, protecting us, and blessing us. We are allowed to feel joy thanks to our wonderful God, who humbled himself to come to this earth and be as vulnerable as we all are. This beautiful and loving God sacrificed himself so that we may be free from sin. So that we may be free from fear. So that we may love. And so that we may hope. And so we may feel joy, even in our darkest moments.Rejoice my sisters and brothers, rejoice! For the tomb is empty. Rejoice for Christ has risen--he has risen indeed.My brothers and sisters I ask you to trust God. Because no matter the trials you are facing in your life--turn to God. My hope is that even in your darkest moments you may find the peace and joy that only God can provide.Sisters and brothers, my charge for you is this: have hope despite all circumstances, have faith that beautiful things will and can happen, and love deeply and passionately.1 Corinthians 13:4-7 and 13"Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things....And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love."That is what Jesus gave us--pure and perfect love. No matter were we run we will never escape this perfect love. But imagine how different your life could be if you accepted this perfect love and believed it completely. I have been working to accept this love and accept that nothing I do can make me worthy of this love and yet God still gives it to me. My life and heart are constantly being transformed because I am slowly trusting God more and trying to trust that I am allowed to accept this perfect love. So my dear friends I ask you to think about how accepting this perfect love can transform your lives. This Perfect Love will help bring joy.Rejoice. Rejoice Rejoice. God loves us. God has conquered death. God has conquered the world. So friends take heart! Trust, have faith, have hope, and love.May the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all!