He is Risen!

He is risen indeed! What hope! What blessed assurance! What other truth can banish fear and grief? God conquered everything on that first Easter. Death was defied, and Jesus lived lives!

Easter is by far my favorite holiday. It is the celebration of every true hope. It is the evidence that we need not fear; the truth that everything will be made right again. There is new life, and the knowledge that the only permanent things are those wonderful truths that God reigns and has conquered everything.

It is an annual in-your-face reminder to cling to faith instead of fear. It is a day filled with momentary reflections on how amazing our God is. It is the knowledge that the God of the universe personally cares.

I have often thought about the first Easter, and how the fear changed to faith. It was such a dramatic change that those who had been living in shadows suddenly were running in the streets to proclaim the truth-- Jesus lives!

We have a choice to make every day. We can choose to focus and cling to the grief, pain, and fear or we can choose to focus and cling to the Lord who does miracles and works on our behalf.

It is an easy logical choice. Unfortunately, the continually choosing is more difficult. It's easy to see the boisterous waves as Peter did before he focused on Jesus and walked on water. The waves in our lives are noisy and make a great show of just how terrible things are. It takes deliberate choices to draw our attention from that and have our focus unwavering on our wonderful Lord.

Easter is my favorite holiday because it's one big day that reminds me just how powerful my God is and just how much He cares for me. Can I really continue doubting about the future when I consider that the God who leads my life is the same one who defied the grave? Is there anything that God cannot do? Surely not.

I cannot wait until I see God face to face. And this is one thing that I consider. We will all have perfect bodies except for Jesus. He will yet be bearing the scars in His hands. A continual reminder of His love for us. I need Easter to be a reminder to me here on Earth. When I finally see Him, I will cry into those hands. I cannot wait for Him to carefully wipe every tear from my eyes. Until then, I continue in life with the knowledge that nothing is outside His power. He is my almighty God.