There can be no denying Easter was a miraculous event that took place over 2,000 years ago. The Jewish historian Josephus (37-100 AD) wrote, “About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man. He was the Christ. When Pilate condemned him to be crucified, those who had loved him did not give up their affection to him. On the third day he appeared to them restored to life.”

But the miracle is still in play, offering you and me the assurance of resurrection and new life in our present lives. The life-death-restoration to life-pattern is witnessed across nature and most remarkably in the human story. Where just days ago the ginkgo tree in my front yard showed no signs of life, Hallelujah! I am a witness to her spring comeback. But nothing compares to the comeback story of Jesus. He endured terrible suffering, was declared dead and placed in a tomb sealed tight by an impenetrable stone. Lights out. Book closed. All hope lost. Not for God. Resurrection will always be the plan. He breathed new life in Jesus and is planning for that same miracle to be lived out in you and me too.

Where can God write a comeback story in your life right now?

I will never understand why death has to be part of the restoration plan. The last days of Jesus’ life were beyond excruciating. As a pastoral minister, I have watched too many endure “crucifixion” experiences here on earth—the loss of a child, terrible sickness in body and spirit, and defeats that rationally appear impossible to rise from. The reality is we will experience a multitude of little deaths over our lifetime. We cannot avoid pain. Like Jesus we must go through the suffering to reach the other side of promised new life. What God assures (as evidenced in Jesus’s experience) is the worst thing we must endure will never be the final thing. Love just won’t allow it! Somehow, someway, God will restore the soul, on earth and definitively in heaven.

Easter becomes a possible reality in our lives the moment we move from fear to trust, despair to hope, defeat to comeback.

God’s timing remains an uncomfortable conundrum. Remember how disappointed (angry actually) Mary and Martha were at Jesus’ tardiness toward saving their brother Lazarus. Where was he? Why didn’t he show up? We never know when the “stone” will be removed, only that it will. Even when we think the lights have gone out in the theater of life, God refuses to leave the stage, until we are redeemed. God will always come through for us. A flaw in my faith is my impatience with God. I have prayed for God’s presence and received crickets. It makes me scared—and angry. Reviewing past easter miracles in my own life, they all took much, much longer than I anticipated or wished. Gritty, vulnerable, repetitive prayers are the only way through: Dear God, please make a way. Remove the stone so I can breathe. Return the joy. Send your angels. Save me and especially those I love.

When God finally restored Jesus to life, he still bore his wounds. The disciple Thomas actually touched them. Just because we bravely open our arms and hearts to new life does not mean that the suffering and loss ever leave us. Wounds, even the invisible ones, testify to the impossible pain we must endure here on earth. Remarkable, miraculous really, is when we have the courage, like Jesus, to move forward with them.

The work of faith is making yourself open and porous to a resurrection happening in your life and for those you love. Pray for it. Inch by inch see how close you can get your soul to God. Find a regular seat in a chapel, listen for God’s direction in music, feel God’s tenderness in embraces and whispered prayers, fill with hope in nature. One day resurrection will become your reality; a rebirth of hope in a broken soul.

Thankfully, Easter holds so much more gravitas than a historical event or annual holiday in the middle of spring. It is a promise from God to your soul that no matter what you are going through, all will be well. More than well. A comeback story is in your future and mine.

I am so excited to hear Chris Tomlin live in Nashville on Good Friday! Tickets are still available!