WHERE THERE IS HOPE

WHERE THERE IS HOPE

A woman came to me who was walking through a serious darkness. A death
in her family had her reeling. Her heart was broken. Thoughts of suicide
bombarded her every waking moment. She had begun to focus on those suicidal
thoughts because, in her mind, she saw no end to the pain and no restoration
in the future.only the heartache of a life she was forced to walk that she
wanted no part of.

I had begun to talk to her about the cross of Jesus - about His death,
burial and resurrection when suddenly the Holy Spirit spoke something to me
I found so funny.

I said, "You have to remember the cross. It was a time of death.
Imagine what the disciples were thinking as their leader hung there, bloody
and battered. They all were freaked out!! Even though Jesus had warned them
that He would die in Jerusalem, they didn't seem to have grasped the reality
of it.

This is where the Lord cut in. Out of my mouth, but out of His mind
came this: But in the midst of their greatest despair, imagine if they had
taken their lives. Think of it! The eleven standing beneath the cross,
pulling their knives out and killing themselves! Where would the church be
today if they had all, in their darkest hour, taken their lives?

Then I said to her, "C'mon, let's picture this ridiculous scene. See
the cross? Now see all the disciples underneath it...dead" We laughed, but
the point God showed us was excellent and He used that to show her that
there would also be a resurrection in her own life as well. Where there is
a death, there is resurrection coming.

There is not one person alive that has escaped the pain that this
fallen life offers us. Sometimes it overtakes us because of our own sin and
at other times it comes to us through the sins of others. Either way, pain
is inevitable in all of our lives.

But there is one thing that the Lord would speak to us all. There is
death in this life. Jesus died on a Friday and there was no resurrection
until Sunday. That time between Friday - when the Lord died and Sunday when
He was resurrected, was a hard time for everyone that loved the Lord. The
pain and despair they felt was incredible. Just as the pain that we feel at
times is incredible.

But for all of us, whether the pain we feel is through suffering we
have power to stop or not, there is a resurrection coming. It may not be
when we would like it, but it is coming.

The question is not will the resurrection come to your life, but how
will you live until it comes? Will you live with hope of that day? Will you
feel despondent and hopeless? Or will you reside somewhere in between?
Wherever it is, that place will have a drastic effect on your spiritual
life.

Jesus promised resurrection on the basis of overcoming three things:
death, hell and the grave.

Death is that spiritual state we all reside in before we are saved. We
live in spiritual darkness. It is also a place that sin can bring us back to
if we choose to not live in the light after we are saved. But regardless of
what choices you have made while living in spiritual death, Jesus can bring
resurrection to your life.

Hell refers to all of the minions of darkness who make it their sole
purpose in existence to either keep you in darkness - in death - or to keep
you from living in victory. What is fighting you, tempting you, or resisting
you today? Jesus will bring resurrection if you will only hold on to the
truth of His love and promise and wait for Him to roll back the stone.

The Grave refers to anything that takes life from us - physically,
spiritually or emotionally. What is it that keeps you dried up or hopeless?
Did a diagnosis cause the grave to seem larger than the Lord? Did the words
of a friend cause death to enter your soul when spoken apart from love? Is
there something that happened to you long ago keeping you from living in
freedom? Take heart: resurrection is on the way.

Victory does not mean the absence of pain. Victory means the absence
of defeat. Regardless of what is causing you distress today, take your
example from the disciples. When the darkest hour came, they didn't fall on
the sword. They may not have fallen on their faces, but they all waited.
They were not even sure what they were waiting for until Sunday came. Then
they knew what they had been waiting for.

The Lord of all Life to return to them.

In your life today I want you to know that the Lord of all life is
calling you. He wants to hold you THROUGH the pain until the dawn of that
Sunday sunrises in your life.

And the dawn of resurrection will come to your life. Let Him hold you
through the darkness.

Living for the Call,
Michelle Molina