“We
do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered…We
were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we
despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death.
But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises
the dead.” 2 Corinthians 1:8—9
Are you familiar with the meme that showed up
in late December of a sledgehammer violently smashing the year “2018?” For many
it was not a good year. Out with the old, and the sooner the better.
My 2018 was no better—long, drawn-out, filled
with hard times and heartache. Not that
there weren’t times of respite, and hands held out from those who
compassionately chose to walk with me during the darkest times, and the steady voice
of Jesus, reminding, “I’m still here. Right here. And I’m not going anywhere.”
But instead of vigorously knocking 2018 out
into the vast graveyard of spent years, I left it limping, sometimes crawling,
over the finish line into 2019. … And then found out that 2019 did not
necessarily hold out a promise of better times. There were more sorrows to
come.
That’s why I love this passage of Scripture: 2
Corinthians 1:8—9. The author, Paul, doesn’t candy-coat life. There are hard
times. There are times when you may not believe you will make it through. Times
when despair is overwhelming and hope seems like a distant memory.
Have you felt the “sentence of death” in your
heart? For yourself or a loved one? It is crushing. Suddenly everything that
used to be important loses its meaning. And you realize the people you love can
be easily taken away. It is hard to breath. It is impossible to pray. You feel
the grasp of death, and it is terrifying.
That is what Paul is talking about. But here
is the good news. Through this horror, we can still rely on God. If we seek the
power within ourselves to make it through, we will come up wretchedly empty.
But if instead, we turn to God, or maybe more accurately we grasp onto God’s
already outstretched hand, then we find an eternal place of harbor.
Here is my favorite part of these verses, “we felt the sentence of death. But this
happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.”
The God we take hold of, or rather who takes hold of us, “raises the dead.” If
you are feeling the “sentence of death,” if you are surrounded by its stench, and
terror, then remember this—God raises the dead.
In this life. Now. Here. He raises our dead
hearts.
He gives us the hope and mercy we need to get up. And in the next life, he raises us. Period. We have a God, who at great cost to himself, reaches out to us, to raise us from the dead.
He gives us the hope and mercy we need to get up. And in the next life, he raises us. Period. We have a God, who at great cost to himself, reaches out to us, to raise us from the dead.
*******
Sara Nelson O'Brien is the author of
and
Available at Amazon.com
1 Harry L. Drive, Johnson City, NY.
All photos are courtesy of pixabay.com
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