The Hope of Easter

I love Easter and not just because the Easter bunny brings me chocolate! Easter reminds me that hope is not lost, that life can rise in dead places, that light can pierce the darkness, and that Jesus reigns victorious over sin. This week I want to share a devotional I wrote about disappointment, despair and loneliness. It is a message I need, and I pray it will touch your heart as well. Love you! 

Disappointment. Despair. Loneliness. Mary Magdalene wept as she stooped by the empty tomb where her beloved Jesus had been buried just three days before. Someone had taken his body away! At least that’s what she thought. Jesus, the man who treated her with dignity and worth; the one who freed her from tormenting demons; the one she called Lord…was gone. She had put her trust in him and believed he was her promised Savior. But now Jesus was dead. The tomb was empty. And so was Mary’s heart.

Empty. We feel it when someone we love is ripped from the fabric of our lives. Disappointment. We feel it when what we had hoped for crumbles beneath us. Despair. We feel it when our faith fails. Tears fall from our eyes and we don’t understand. This isn’t how things were supposed to end, we say. We wonder if joy will ever be ours again.

Hopelessness must have overwhelmed Mary as she wept by the empty tomb that day. But in her despair, Jesus showed up. “Dear woman, why are you crying?” he asked her. As soon as Mary recognized him, she cried out with joy and desperately clung to him. Can you imagine this reunion? In an instant, Mary’s heart must have once again been filled with hope. Jesus, her Lord and Savior, was fully alive! What appeared at first to be disappointment was in fact a circumstance that was wholly in God’s hands. Never once did God abandon her. Never once did God break his promise or change his plan. Jesus was hers forever.

Friend, if your circumstance feels hopeless or your heart is overwhelmed with disappointment and despair, cry out for Jesus. He will come to your rescue. Never will he leave you or forsake you. Your circumstance is wholly in his hands. It is never as it appears to be. Cling to Jesus and watch him fulfill every one of his promises for you. He is fully alive. Jesus is forever yours.

Anna Frye is a speaker, author, television host and founder of the Chosen and Crowned tribe. She invites moms and wives to celebrate imperfect progress fueled by the grace of a perfect God. She helps women bravely talk about the messy places of life, instead of hiding shamefully under them. She believes that lasting beauty comes when women courageously surrender their ashes to God and allow him to do something mind-blowingly amazing with them. If this resonates with you, then you belong with the Chosen and Crowned tribe. Connect at www.ChosenAndCrowned.com/blog