“Why do you look for the living among the dead?” (Luke 23:56b-24:11 NRSV).
Our nature is to be negative, to look on the bad side of things. God keeps surprising us, yet we still don’t want to believe that all things are possible through Him. My good friend Thomas reminds me every now and then, “Don’t let the current circumstances affect your spirit; be positive and expect a miracle.”
How many times have you thought the worst about something going on in your life, only to be pleasantly surprised when God redeemed the situation? It may take longer than our impatience can tolerate, but it still happens.
Many people can’t let a day go by without looking in the newspaper to see the obituaries. Like those who went to Christ’s tomb looking for a dead body, our first thought is, “I wonder who died yesterday?” How about looking to see who has gone to a nearer presence to God or who has run this worldly race and has now been moved up to the Big League?
We worry about death and dying when the greatest thing that anyone has ever done for us was to die for our sin. That person was resurrected so that we need not fear death again. He lives and we live in Him. The gifts that we received through Jesus’ death and resurrection can’t be compared to the most rewarding public stock that we could ever buy.
Do you have enough stock in Jesus? Hey! The shares are free and you can have as many as you like. There’s a miracle gain every day that it’s traded. There are no other deals like that anywhere. But people are ready to give up a meal in order to have money to buy a lottery ticket. The chances of great results if we turn to God are guaranteed. Everything else has risk and no guarantees for our lives. Where is your investment?
Father God, teach me to always expect an empty tomb, a miracle. My need to control and my impatience are in the way of my seeing and receiving Your miracles. I pray that You give me a peace that will cause me to be fully comfortable with Your way. You keep showing me Your redemptive love. With the new life You have given me through Jesus, who still lives, death no longer exists. Help me to understand. AMEN.
Robert Halsey Pine was born at Newark, Ohio in 1943. He is a graduate of Northeastern University and completed the program of Theological Education by Extension: Education for Ministry, School of Theology, the University of the South.
