REMEMBERING THE RESURRECTION DURING COVID-19

A look back to life a year ago…..

I’m posting this on Saturday before Resurrection Day 2021, because it might help you prepare for tomorrow.

It’s the day after Resurrection Day, 2020. Smack in the middle of a pandemic.

Was yesterday as hard for you as it was for me?

 Yesterday we celebrated Resurrection Day - it's a historical fact that a God–man named Jesus Christ was killed in my place and then raised to life by His Father on a Sunday morning.

 Holy Week starts with jubilant Palm Sunday. There is a build-up to the next Sunday, interrupted by what we called Good Friday, the blackest day in history.

 The details of Christ’s illegal trial and murder are disturbing, but we followers of Jesus Christ know the historical account ends well. We don’t get depressed because we know that in order for there to be a resurrection there had to be a death, and that’s why we call that dark day Good.

 If we got stuck on the horrors of Friday, we would be of all people the most miserable. Meditating on what our gracious Savior endured for our sake helps us more fully appreciate His love for us. But there’s no need to get stuck there. Friday was a black day, but hallelujah, glorious Sunday was coming! That’s what we celebrated yesterday.

 

Friend, Do you find today, the day after Resurrection Day anti-climactical? Sometimes I do.

 I love encouraging people with God’s truth. I try not to pull other people down with my problems.

 But I’m not gonna lie. Yesterday was a hard day. I suspect it was difficult for you as well. Difficult because it was starkly DIFFERENT from any other Resurrection Day I’ve ever celebrated.

 

Here in Durant we awakened to rain. It was cloudy most of the day, rained a couple times. So pile gloom on top of a sinus headache and a deaf ear left over from a URI 3 weeks ago. Set that down in the middle of the weirdness and restrictions of COVID-19, and that was the perfect recipe for me to lose it.

Up to this point, I’d handled that mess consistently well - with an occasional teary eye ... until I woke up too early yesterday morning. The house was quiet and I allowed my mind to go to all the losses. I was dangerously close to ruining the whole day with chronic weeping about everything that was wrong. Especially the inability to gather with other believers to celebrate this Gladdest of All Glad Days. Thankfully the Lord nudged me to spend that quiet early hour basking in His Word. That made it possible for me to not ruin the day with weeping.

 Was yesterday as hard for you as it was for me?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m very grateful for all the online worship services, for sitting with some of my children listening to David read scripture and then sharing communion. But let me tell you, for an extrovert who needs to give and receive her hugs, not getting to sit in the physical presence of fellow celebrants just didn’t cut it.

The Lord’s Supper was meant to be shared with humans in the flesh. Lotsa humans. I’m more than ready for us to get back to that. How about you?

 

So it’s at this point that I need to tell myself and you what I said a few days ago:

 Here we are on this anti-climactic Monday. When life goes back to normal - well, (semi-)normal. When we move on with the necessities. And it’s easy to forget the victory of Jesus we celebrated yesterday.

 

So I’m going to ask the same question that I asked a few days ago:

 If Christ’s resurrection power cannot be applied to a dull, drippy Monday morning, ...if his resurrection power doesn’t impact the challenges I face on the day-after, challenges like a deaf ear, a soggy unfinished garden, health issues, home repairs, the need to shelter in, the restrictions on gatherings, the fears associated with a devastating virus, the financial impact...I could go on and on. If I can’t think about how I have resurrection power dwelling in me in the form of the Holy Spirit, if I can’t use that power to remember the love of God that casts out fear and provides for our needs. If Christ’s resurrection power does not apply to my every day challenges, massive or tiny, then what’s the point of knowing it ever happened?

 You and I both know the answer. Point is it did happen. It was recorded as history to encourage you and me, right here and right now, to stay the course by plugging into the resurrection power.

 

So friend, when the gloomy weather gets to you, or when your refrigerator quits working and you think, “this is really bad timing right in the middle of CV19”. When your friend receives a cancer diagnosis. Or the grocer runs out of the food you need. Those are the times when you and I need to stop and take a breath and say “Whenever I am afraid, Lord, I will trust in You."

 It’s time to take a lot of deep breaths and say, “Lord in these uncertain times, I choose to keep my mind on you. I choose to be grateful for every good gift and every perfect gift that you send my way, and there are so many. I choose to let YOU be strength in my weakness.

What are some of your struggles during COVID-19? Or share a way you have been able to be peaceful and celebrate in spite of these stressors. Tell us in the comments below.