He is Risen! He is Good.

I’m feeling a little reflective today and decided to share some thoughts here. I usually reserve these kinds of ideas for my journal, but I have to be honest that the Lord has been pushing me to be more bold in my proclamations of His goodness lately. (It’s funny that’s even something we need to be pushed to do - I sure do believe it, so why wouldn’t I be eager to share it?)

Since losing my Dad just over a year ago, the Easter season has hit a little harder and sunk in a little deeper for me. The truth I believe - that there is resurrection and life after the devastation of death - feels a little more tangible these days. The grief process (the first I’ve truly had to walk through) is gruelling, but the hope of reunification, restoration, and ultimately, God’s faithfulness, has been the shining light through it all. Some days that hope gets dimmed under the weight of sadness, but it’s always there above my head, pointing me upward and onward.

The Easter story can lose its impact when you walk through the same rituals year after year. A solemn Good Friday service followed by an excited Easter Sunday morning with peppy music, fresh flowers, and hot-crossed buns on the table. He is risen! we exclaim together. I love to celebrate in this way, but it becomes familiar, which can sometimes lead to it becoming comfortable, which can sometimes lead to it becoming unimpressionable. But I’ll be honest and say that since losing my Dad and also in sitting in the discomfort of our family’s current in-between living situation, the Easter story is hitting me in a new and fresh way.

What really strikes me most about the Easter story this year is the divine sovereignty and goodness of God’s plan. Last year, I read through the entire Old Testament, which I’m embarrassed to admit was the first time I had done that as a lifelong Christian. I had learned the typically highlighted stories of the Bible as I grew up, but I always saw that part of the Bible as other. Admittedly, I sometimes even saw the God of the Old Testament as other. And as a result, I tended to cast it aside as before Jesus, and therefore, less important.

But when I really took the time to dig into it, I came to see the God I already knew and loved. God is unchanging and faithful and although we may be quick to dismiss the “Old Testament God” (to which I need to quickly say there is no such thing) as cruel and harsh, the reality is that He was (and is) full of compassion and goodness. Always. You could pick out stories where His reactions and leading appear unjust and confusing, but when I honestly took the time to read and consider the entire story, all I could see was a love so deep for His creation that He couldn’t be anything but truly faithful to His goodness. Truly faithful to intimacy with us. And truly committed to His plan of redemption.

Jesus, God made flesh, was always the plan. And not just for the benefit of Israel, but for us all. I often think about what it would have been like to be alive in those Old Testament days where you can’t yet see the result of God’s unfolding master plan. Or even in the days of Jesus’ life here on earth when he hadn’t yet died and risen again. Would I be angry with God? Would I see Him as manipulative and commanding and cruel as I suffered? Would I simply dismiss Him as uncaring and passive, uninterested and bored?

The reason this part of the Easter story strikes me so tenderly is because in a lot of ways, I really feel like I’m in it. I’m in the waiting to see my Dad again. I’m in the unknown of how His plan is going to work out for our family’s next move. I’m in what feels like the desert of the promised land or the three days between Jesus’ death and resurrection. God is asking me to wait and be patient as His plan unfolds, but I have no idea what that plan is or how it is going to play out or when it is going to come through. It’s a really difficult place to sit. But when I think about the Easter story - God’s greatest story ever told! - I see, know, and trust that He is full of love. He is full of faithfulness. And He is so full of goodness.

I’ve been working on getting more comfortable with sitting here. Do I need to know the big picture to trust that it’s good? My faith is not always steadfast, but I think I can say that I’m learning to let Him take care of it. I don’t always understand it, but I can trust it. I can trust Him. Why?

Because He is risen!

And with that, He is very good.