“I have learned that I can simultaneously hold grief in one hand and joy in the other. I don’t have to choose.”
I was sitting in a coffee shop when my friend told me what God had been teaching her through a particularly heavy season of life. She had been through some incredible moments of pain and loss, and yet she was experiencing some of God’s greatest blessings elsewhere. It was a roller-coaster of emotions, and she was learning to embrace the ride.
Throughout our lives, we will also face such bittersweet times.
• In one hand, you can ache as your child launches into a new, more independent phase of life and in the other, be so thrilled to see them pursuing dreams and experiencing success.
• You can mourn losing a loved one to a terrible illness and also be relieved that they no longer suffer on this earth with their failing body.
• You can celebrate a new job while dreading the good-byes that come with your departure.
As we look to the Easter season, we see this dichotomy of emotions played out through the death and resurrection of Jesus. On one hand, we have Friday – a day of betrayal, beatings, death, and darkness, and on the other hand we have Sunday – a day of victory, celebration, life, and joy. Our inclination is to focus on the pleasant – the triumph of the resurrection. Yet we need the sorrow of the crucifixion to fully experience and appreciate the power of the resurrection.
My challenge to you this Easter season is to fully embrace both sides. Sit in the gravity of Christ’s sufferings and death. Acknowledge the sins that placed Him there. Grieve the brokenness of this world. And then celebrate Christ’s victory over sin. Appreciate His love for sinners. Rejoice in the hope of Christ’s return.
“But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed.” – Isaiah 53:5
Michelle Conner
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