The disciples, when they went into the empty tomb, they couldn’t have imagined that they would find an empty tomb. The empty tomb raised questions, immediately. It raised questions for the women. The disciples come; it raised questions for the disciples. And that empty tomb—it’s been raising questions every since, and it will raise questions until the end of the world. It represents the most significant moment in the history of the world: the moment where Jesus rose from the dead. And now the tomb’s empty. So lots of people got lots of questions.
I have one question for you today: What part of your life needs resurrection? What part of your life needs to be resurrected?
Some of our biggest challenges, some of our biggest problems, some of our biggest crises, some of our biggest obstacles—they take more than a year to solve, to change, to heal. The real question is: Do you actually believe that whatever mess you’ve got yourself into, or however bad the situation is in your life, or whatever tragedy or challenge it is that needs to be resurrected in your life . . . Do you actually believe that God is willing and able to resurrect it?
Let me share some examples:
I pray for my friend that she finds a resurrection. She’s a
grandma whose children and grandchildren find easy to exploit. They come and
help themselves to food in her house. Grandma told her girlfriend that she
feels so much stress that she would like to walk out of her home and never come
back. She plans to will her home to her grandkids. However, her daughter-in-law
learned about grandma’s generosity and said she would buy her home now and move
in with her two little kids and three dogs. Grandma already has a daughter
living with her and three dogs of her own. Her daughter hasn’t talked to this
relative in four years. The chaos would be nerve racking but grandma cannot say
no to her relative. Her friend said she needs to set boundaries. Grandma feels
like she would fall short if she couldn’t take care of her family. Her friend
reminded her that she needs to be compassionate to herself; while that comes easily
with others, she needs to be less of a savior to her family and more like a
best friend to herself. Her girlfriend believes that God can help grandma in
this dilemma.
There are several areas in my life that need resurrection: my
passion to get healthier; my marriage; my relationship with my estranged
daughter. And I will continue to pray for these intentions. With God, all
things are possible!
I would like to say that my body needs to be resurrected. After
having had back pain for the past twenty-five years, I had surgery last June
which has made the pain and mobility issues for me so much worse. I was active
in my parish before and no longer can be. So, I would ask God to resurrect my
body so I can continue doing the things I love. Do I believe that he can do
this? Absolutely.
Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who need a resurrection.
I believe that God is willing to resurrect you from the messes in your life.
Blessed Easter!
