Our Happy Ending

All too often in life we want to skip to the happy endings.

We want the transformation, without the hard work in the gym. We want a happy marriage, without the dedication and hard conversations. We want financial stability, without saying no to extraneous purchases. But the hard parts of life are what make the happy endings so happy. This is true for Easter. Saying, “He is Risen!” would mean nothing if He hadn’t died. And as fun as the eggs, candy, and pastel colors are, there’s not much to celebrate without the dark agony of what happened on the cross.

I remember a few years ago, the day before Easter, I had a personal tragedy in my life. I remember waking up on Easter morning to cheery faces, putting on a bright colored dress, and walking around the church choking back tears. Everyone was celebrating, but I felt like I was dying.

But looking back, that personal “death” brought me so much closer to Christ. It grew me, taught me, changed me. It gave me a new happy ending, and has made way for more happy endings to come.

Sometimes, we have to let things die, sit in the pain, and trust God will bring the celebration in his own time. Without death, we wouldn’t have Easter. Without Christ’s suffering, we wouldn’t have eternal life.

I love this passage from the prophet Isaiah:

But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.

- Isaiah 53:5-6 NLT

The suffering of Christ made it possible for us to be whole. He didn’t skip to the happy ending; He withstood the pain so we could find life with Him.

I don’t know what life looks like for you this Easter season. But if there are places where death prevails, perhaps it’s time to invite Christ to speak life into those spaces. He wants to bring resurrection to every nook and cranny of darkness within us. Rather than skipping to the celebration, He is inviting us to sit in the darkness of suffering, and to be expectant for the joy that resurrection will bring.

Your present sufferings don’t disqualify you from celebrating the goodness of resurrection. Instead, they make the goodness of Easter all the more real, because when you’ve experienced the pain of death then you can truly cherish the beauty of life.

I pray Christ’s resurrection life would bring light into all the dark struggles this Easter. Would you surrender the suffering to Him, and trust His timing for your happy ending. Thanks to Easter, it’s already here.

Amen.

Cristina Schmitter

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