Easter Reminder

Lent and Easter have come and gone, and with them, a rather intense season of my life has taken place. March was an awfully stressful month and whatever has passed of April has not been much different. Choppy waters propelled by doctor’s appointments and tests added to house-guests and extra responsibilities and frustrations at work plus the everyday battles fought at home, have left a tail of anxiety trapped within its wake.

I have to confess that my Martha condition has been exacerbated by the events and circumstances surrounding me these last two months to the point of utter distraction…and I am ashamed…

I have not exercise my ability to come to the feet of the Lord with my burdens and just sit still in His presence, like Mary. I have been Martha all the way, every day…seeking His face just to complain and to throw panicky words on His direction in a desperate attempt to grabbed a miracle that would pull me away from a pit that I failed to realize was of my own doing. I dug the very hole where I sink. And I forgot that rather than continue on my frantic pace to be my own god over my circumstances, all I had to do was to be still and let Him be God.

It even got funny, now that I think back…for example, when I announced that we were going to host the family for Easter at our house, my sons yelled in unison: “NOOOOO!!!” Not because they didn’t want to spend precious moments with their relatives…but because they knew what that implied: a relentless push to clean and prep the house so it would get to my impossible standards of tidiness. They knew the days of slavery to a mop, broom and bathroom chemicals were upon them and they felt helpless.

Sigh…

But, the good news is that Christ loves us way too much to leave us in the pit. Like He did with Martha, He spoke to me in a language that I could understand…and on Easter morning…He rose in my heart again when He showed me my older son, Grant, carrying the cross at church in the short drama the youth put together during the sunrise service. I filmed the whole thing…and I replayed it over and over again to re-live the emotions that I felt when I saw Grant doing a most moving job playing His part as Jesus in this drama…and in those brief and unassuming minutes, my soul was finally attuned to the reality of Christ in our midst.

It was as if Jesus was telling me…in a whisper…”nothing else matters…The Cross leads to Victory! Our troubles are momentary, I have paid it all…you owe nothing…just seek me, and you will finally be free…you will finally have peace.”

Sigh…

Easter Sunday dinner at our house was a success. I overcooked the appetizers and corn bake. The icemaker was malfunctioning. The TV set broke. It rained for a while and the dog threw up in my new rug. All in all, however, it was a great day. The rain eventually stopped and the sun began to shine brightly, warming our weary souls enough to see the kids, young and old, play and be silly in the backyard. When the rain came again, we sat in our TV-less family room and chatted until a calm and contented feeling settled in our hearts and it was time to say good-night.

God is Good, All the Time…and All the Time, He is Good. His Love and Mercy reaches even to the most distracted of Marthas and His face shines even in the darkest of pits. I pray you all had a most blessed Easter.