Journal Entry ~ 04/02/18

9 And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!" - Mark 11:9-10

Blessed is the coming kingdom. Even though the people shouting this to Jesus a week before He was to be crucified, this is the central message of Easter Sunday. Our eyes should be fixed on what is coming, not on what is in front of us. In this world, we will endure a heavy dose of heartache because of the broken nature of this world. There will be relational strife, financial upsets, struggles with addictions, and disappointments at life shortcomings as we planned and dreamed of something very different than what is happening. But through it all, we have hope because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross. His death and resurrection are the reason we can look to the future with the confident expectation that all this pain will one day be forgotten, and we will know peace. It won’t simply be something we grasp from time to time, but it will be the very essence of our existence. 

But we must not miss that we are living in the promised eternity right now.  Eternity isn’t something promised only for the future, it’s something promised for the present. Yes, we are living that eternity in a broken world, but He is at work every day saving us right here in the now. Every day, He is chiseling away at each one of us, chastening is, and making us more and more into His image.  That’s a difficult process. It hurts to give up our comforts and our strongholds, but it is only through the pain of trials that we are truly tenderized. And every day, He is creating beautiful stories of redemption and healing in relationships and in bodies. 

Lean into the pain in front of you, for if you are a child of God, He has something beautiful inside that trial for you. He promises if you are obedient, and your heart remains humble, He has great things in store for you. His Easter promises aren’t for future days, they’re for today. 


Press on ~ you are loved 💗

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