In my bible study this week, I have been reading about the passion of the Christ, truly one of the darkest moments ever captured in the Word. In our discussion about the passion, the discussion leader remarked about how difficult it must have been for the disciples to see Jesus this way. They watched the promise, love, and hope of their generation disintegrate before their eyes. Suddenly their dreams for a new, saved world were dashed as Jesus breathed his last breath—it is finished.
If the story stopped there, it would be nothing more than the sad story of a beautiful, selfless man, who died an inhumane, cruel death. Luckily for us, the story doesn’t end there. A few days later, our Savior rose from the dead, defeating the old ways of sin and bringing us into a new life. Knowing how that story ends changes it from a story of loss to one of redemption. While the journey to get to that redemption may have been indescribably sad, it was part of a larger plan, a bigger purpose.
Which made me think—if we cut off the story of Jesus’ death prematurely and only focus on the middle all we see is the sadness—is it possible that we are doing that in our own day-to-day life as well? Do we take the middle of our larger story and grieve over the things that went wrong, instead of trusting that He has the right ending planned for us? Perhaps instead of being focused on the middle, we should have faith in God that He knows our larger purpose and only He knows the path it takes to get there.
Although the middle can be unwieldy and in some cases heartbreaking, we have been promised that in the end a paradise awaits us…“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21:4. So no matter how awful the middle is or becomes, we have to hold on to the hope that our redemptive end, our peace is promised right around the corner.
Are you dwelling in the middle?
