Into…err, Out of the Wilderness Day 41

On Easter morning we affirm: We all carry loss deep within our hearts. Some of those losses seem small while others are life shattering. Some losses are really no losses at all because the life we gain from them far outweighs them all. For, as Paul says, “they achieve for us an eternal glory (2 Cor 4:17).” This is the heart of the resurrection. No loss will be wasted. God brings true and abundant life out of all our various deaths. From the smallest death of disappointment that life didn’t quite turn out the way we would have hoped, to the largest of deaths like divorce, terminal illness, death of a loved one, and finally….our own death.

When God breaths the life of his Spirit through the broken body of Jesus, he promised us that no loss of ours would have the last word. That, death, which has been such a common intruder in life, injecting us with that terminal illness of despair, will be destroyed by love and life. This is why our 40 Days in the Wilderness ends on Day 41.

Day 41 is the day after Easter. God brings life out of death and today we see the fruit of it. It can’t be a pie-in-the-sky, naive illusion to simply help us feel better. It must be experienced. It begins today, and is fulfilled in all its fulness when Christ appears.

God of Resurrection, we hear Jesus say to us: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” God, we believe, but help our unbelief. There are so many losses we have buried deep within our hearts. Losses we have not let go of. Search them now. Give me courage to allow your Spirit to go to the empty place where I have not allowed you to go. I release the burden of that loss. I can’t carry its weight any longer. Free me of my slavery to despair, resentment, pride, passion. Whatever sin has locked the door to allowing you to take away my loss, I give up to you and freely receive your abundant life. In the name of the one who carried my sin and death deep into your heart, and rose triumphantly, defeating all sin and death by your love, Amen, Amen, Amen!