Romans 8:39 "neither heights, nor depths, nor anything in all creation can separate use from the Love of God found in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Easter is the time of year where little girls get dressed in frilly, colored dresses. We buy boys miniature grey suits and baby blue bow-ties and we call this "our Sunday best." We fill up baskets with "grass" the color of the rainbow and send our children off too look for eggs supposedly hidden by a gigantic rabbit that we took pictures with at the mall last week.
At the core it has remained a family holiday, even if we throw out the death and resurrection, lent which precedes both, and even before that, Passover. And it seems, like Christmas, we've forgotten the true meaning. Yet, recently I feel like I'm more able to relate to the fuzzy bunny holiday than the celebration of my salvation.
It's easy to feel far from God.
Anyone that lives in this busy world knows the struggle of trying to make-ends-meet and still follow God whole heartedly. There's that ever present tension, where we're striving to stop to say our morning prayers, yet still win the race of making it to work on time.
This goes out to all the 20-somethings struggling to figure out what it means to live in "the real world," every-one who works the glorious human services schedules, and all those who struggle to hear God's voice.
I took my job, praying Lord use me. Knowing that even if I missed church, there is something to be said of "caring for the least of these," and "walking alongside orphans." So I prayed "Lord use me. Teach me to pray in the moment, not just when I carve it out in my schedule. Teach me to feel your presence, even when time slips through my fingers to bask in it. Be my guide." I'm still praying.
It's hard working a One-Sunday-off-a-month schedule. It's hard to know where you sit with God when you don't have a preacher reminding you every week. It's hard to pray and remind yourself where you sit with God when most days you're surrounded by situations that challenge his existence.
However, through these time of loneliness, struggle, and testing our faith is made stronger. In times when I am discouraged I've been learning to cling to this verse:
"neither heights nor depths, nor anything that is in all creation will separate us from the love of God found in Christ Jesus our Lord" Romans 8:39.
And as Linus to Charlie Brown: That is the real meaning of Easter.
When my life feels like a circus of juggling a job against my spiritual life. When I'm really not sure where I stand in this great scheme of life. When Easter has become simply a rabbits feet and candy. That's when I remember that I am loved.
Despite the challenges. Despite the struggle, I am loved more than I can ever imagine. And when I remember how much I am loved in the midst of chaos, that is when my faith is made stronger, because God reaches down to remind me he is still there.
Happy Easter Season. It's coming just next week. Remember, no matter your situation. No matter how you feel, you are loved. And that is the true meaning of Easter.
Easter is the time of year where little girls get dressed in frilly, colored dresses. We buy boys miniature grey suits and baby blue bow-ties and we call this "our Sunday best." We fill up baskets with "grass" the color of the rainbow and send our children off too look for eggs supposedly hidden by a gigantic rabbit that we took pictures with at the mall last week.
At the core it has remained a family holiday, even if we throw out the death and resurrection, lent which precedes both, and even before that, Passover. And it seems, like Christmas, we've forgotten the true meaning. Yet, recently I feel like I'm more able to relate to the fuzzy bunny holiday than the celebration of my salvation.
It's easy to feel far from God.
Anyone that lives in this busy world knows the struggle of trying to make-ends-meet and still follow God whole heartedly. There's that ever present tension, where we're striving to stop to say our morning prayers, yet still win the race of making it to work on time.
This goes out to all the 20-somethings struggling to figure out what it means to live in "the real world," every-one who works the glorious human services schedules, and all those who struggle to hear God's voice.
I took my job, praying Lord use me. Knowing that even if I missed church, there is something to be said of "caring for the least of these," and "walking alongside orphans." So I prayed "Lord use me. Teach me to pray in the moment, not just when I carve it out in my schedule. Teach me to feel your presence, even when time slips through my fingers to bask in it. Be my guide." I'm still praying.
It's hard working a One-Sunday-off-a-month schedule. It's hard to know where you sit with God when you don't have a preacher reminding you every week. It's hard to pray and remind yourself where you sit with God when most days you're surrounded by situations that challenge his existence.
However, through these time of loneliness, struggle, and testing our faith is made stronger. In times when I am discouraged I've been learning to cling to this verse:
"neither heights nor depths, nor anything that is in all creation will separate us from the love of God found in Christ Jesus our Lord" Romans 8:39.
And as Linus to Charlie Brown: That is the real meaning of Easter.
When my life feels like a circus of juggling a job against my spiritual life. When I'm really not sure where I stand in this great scheme of life. When Easter has become simply a rabbits feet and candy. That's when I remember that I am loved.
Despite the challenges. Despite the struggle, I am loved more than I can ever imagine. And when I remember how much I am loved in the midst of chaos, that is when my faith is made stronger, because God reaches down to remind me he is still there.
Happy Easter Season. It's coming just next week. Remember, no matter your situation. No matter how you feel, you are loved. And that is the true meaning of Easter.
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