He is Coming...

I can only imagine today, the day after Good Friday, how the disciples of Jesus must have felt. They'd watched the man they loved die a brutal death, and most of them had scattered, fearful, broken, pained. He'd talked about going away and coming back, but the bloodstains that still lined that hill made them doubt it. These were dark days--the waiting, but they had a promise from Jesus Himself.

He is coming.

A year ago, my husband and I were separated, and I rang in the Lenten season in another's home. My life had taken several unexpected turns and all I knew was that God was still good, despite how I felt. My husband and I were bloody and bruised, too tired to press on in the same ways we had been. Our marriage was dead, ready to be buried, and all we could do was wait.

On my best days I held to God's promises, and on my worst, I begged for them. I'd spend hours in prayer, in tears, and honestly, in the bathtub reflecting. It was dark, messy, and unfamiliar, but I knew it was necessary—for him and for me. The waiting was torture. 

He is coming.

Then, out of the heavens, a gift. A woman handed me a wrinkled piece of paper. Torn from a notebook, the writing was barely legible, written with haste, but inside was a message I will never forget. It was a prophecy of sorts, a specific one, a tangible glimpse of a not-yet reality. It was water for a thirsty soul, and it ended with a promise.  

He is coming.

Today that message still undoes me, as I sit next to my husband typing this. As he leans in to kiss my head and asks if I would like breakfast. As I look into his eyes and know that I love him more now, than I was ever capable of before. Jesus may have resurrected our marriage, but more importantly, He resurrected me.

And He is coming.

To the weary, the angry, the lonely. To the dead marriages in need of resurrection. To the aching who long for relief. To those that feel forgotten, dismissed, or marginalized. 

He is coming.

To the dark places, to the memories that feel more like nightmares, to the shadowy corners of our lives, to our secrets, to our shame.

He is coming.

Tomorrow, two thousand years ago He came resurrected, bringing all the old saints with Him, and the good news is He's still doing it.

He's still resurrecting the dead. Brace yourselves.