We have all been there, where we
experience a period in our life where nothing is going right and
we are under so much stress of the world that nobody could even
begin to understand. The devil tempts our spirituality, we just
had a huge argument with our parents, we have to meet a specific
deadline, someone said and/or did something that offended and hurt
us, and we just failed our Biochemistry Midterm Exam! We ask ourselves,
"Can things possibly get better...this really isn't my day or week."
We attempt to seek advice from church elders, our parents, or our
friends, but nothing they say provides us with comfort or contentment
and nothing they do can lift us out of our pit of stress. All we
hear is "God really does love you." We truly believe this, but in
the midst of our problems and tribulations, for some reason this
concept becomes cloudy to us.
We ask ourselves, "If God truly loves
me, then why would He allow Satan to tempt me?...If God truly loves
me, then why won't He allow my parents to understand my point of
view?...If God truly loves me, then why would He have allowed me
to fail my midterm...If God 'this'...If God 'that'...etc" If we
just STOP and think about what we are saying, then we will realize
that all these "If God" statements are conditional, and GOD'S LOVE
IS UNCONDITIONAL! If we just contemplate on God's love to us, we
will realize that He does love us and He truly is the only one that
can provide relief to our distresses for "God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
What does it mean that God sent His
Only Begotten Son who was incarnated, walked among us for 33 years,
suffered, died, and then rose from the dead?
It means that God has blessed our nature in the Lord Christ.
It means that He does love us and no matter what kind of
decisions we are faced with, the Lord Jesus Christ is truly holding
our hands and guiding us for He knows our anxieties for He, too,
suffered in the flesh. It means that even though nobody in
this world could possibly understand what we are experiencing, the
Lord knows our hearts, our feelings and thoughts, and He answers
us quickly. It means that we should taste His joy and gladness
for the Lord Jesus Christ is Our Resurrection. It means that
we should be stress-free and joyful, especially during these FORTY
JOYFUL DAYS after the Glorious Resurrection.
IT MEANS THAT:
1. The Lord Jesus Christ visits us with His joy & peace:
Our Lord does not like to see us doubtful, distressful, or anxious.
We see this when St. Peter the Apostle was in a psychological crisis
after denying our Lord. Christ appeared to him and comforted him
and filled him with His joy and peace (Luke 24:34). Our Lord also
saw how stressful and afraid His disciples were after His death
that every time He would appear to them, He would say "Peace be
unto you." The lessons we learn from the Lord Jesus Christ's Resurrection
is that no matter how many difficulties we meet, we are able to
find peace and calmness and rest for our souls. We learn that we
shouldn't lose hope, and after every tribulation, there is MUST
be a period of hope and joy. We learn that after every temptation
we face, angels will come and minister unto us, just like they ministered
unto the Lord Jesus after His temptations. We learn that we shouldn't
fear anything for the Lord completed man's salvation through His
Resurrection and thus He is with us.
IT MEANS THAT:
2. The Lord Jesus Christ lives inside us:
Because the Lord Jesus Christ abolished such a fearful event like
death and rose from the dead, He wants to have a special relationship
with each one of us. It is not merely a fellowship with Him, but
an inter-abidance where He is abiding and working within us. And
thus if God is with us and working within us "for it is no longer
I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20), we know whatever
situation we face, we can overcome it for "I can do all things through
Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:16). Although the Lord
Jesus Christ resurrected and ascended residing in Heaven, He is
not far from our cries for there is not one teardrop He does not
see or one prayer He does not hear, for He promised us saying "I
am with you always even to the end of the age " (Matthew 28:20).
IT MEANS THAT:
3. We are the Lord Jesus Christ's for He bought us with His
Blood:
The Lord Jesus Christ knows our future and how anxious we are about
it and how we fear the unknown, but these thoughts should not disturb
us for we belong to Him. If we are His own, then we should know
that He dwells and is united in us. Since we belong to Him, He will
with His Grace restore our strength and confidence in any task we
face, if we only ask Him. During these FORTY JOYFUL DAYS, we should
spend more time with Him by living a life of prayer for no one has
all the answers to our problems, and no one knows the best decisions
for our lives, but God. Trust in God and "submit to God...draw near
to God and He will draw near to you..." (James 4:7-8). We should
believe that God is the only one that will provide us true comfort
and we should believe He has the power to help and direct our lives
for "in all things whatever you ask in prayer believing, you will
receive" (Matthew 21:22).
IT MEANS THAT:
My Dear Brothers and Sisters, we should all pray for one
another and encourage each other during these FORTY JOYFUL DAYS
so that we may be truly filled with joy and gladness for we are
all brothers and sisters in Christ and we are all in the same boat
trying to make sense of this thing called 'life'.
IT MEANS THAT:
My Dear Brothers and Sisters, we should all make a promise
that during these FORTY JOYFUL DAYS, no matter what situation or
tribulation or toil we my encounter, we will stay JOYFUL and smile
and not allow anything to bring us down. At least for FORTY JOYFUL
DAYS, let each of us take a vow that even though someone may hurt
us or college becomes overwhelming or we have to meet deadlines
or we have to make decisions, we will not come under the yoke of
distress but we will say with St. Paul "Rejoice in the Lord always.
Again I will say Rejoice!" (Philippians 4:4).
