Happy Good Friday!
Growing up, I used to think that people should make sacrifices during Good Friday (or the whole of Holy Week) – like not eating meat, praying and singing (non-stop) all week, visiting several churches on foot or hurting one’s self. That we’re not allowed to be happy as a sign of respect to God who is suffering and dead.
NO, Jesus Christ is not dead today. He is very much alive! No matter heart-breaking and sorrowful that He died for our sins 2000 years ago, today is meant to remember the goodness of Christ. It isn’t a story of sadness, but of salvation and freedom because this is the day when He openly declared victory over death and sin.
So YES, I meant it when I said Happy Good Friday! Because like any other day, it’s a day to reflect and thank the Lord for the beautiful sacrifice He has done for us. Even when we don’t deserve it. We are no longer bounded by the law and culture that tells us to do good things in order to win the love and forgiveness of God. It is finished!
[tweetthis]Not good works. But relationship and time with Him. [/tweetthis]Isn’t it amazing to know that the God who walked with Moses, Joseph, Job, Abraham and Noah is the same God we’re walking with right now? :)
However, as it is written:
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—
[1 Corinthians 2:9]
I found this prayer in my unfinished drafts written four years ago. A proof that no matter what we go through, even when it seems too painful to bear, God knows and He is mighty to save. He can turn the odds into our favor and do glorious works in our lives more than our minds could ever understand. I think this prayer still holds true to me today so I’ll share it here…
DEAR GOD,
Thank You for giving me what I need, and not necessarily what I want. Because most often, what I want turns out to be only just what I thought I wanted. You always know that there’s something better than what I want.
Thank You for assigning me a problem so seemingly impossible, that I am forced to find strength within me that I never knew existed.
Thank You for letting me discover the beauty of small things and how they can stand as lifesavers when big things fall apart.
Thank You for allowing me to share a life with people who are nothing less than wonderful… people who’ve helped me grow and led me closer to You.
Thank You for reminding me every day that You are walking with me, Your hands holding mine, no matter how tiresome I get.
Thank You for always waking me up in the morning, giving me infinite opportunities to show kindness to a broken and hurting world… that wherever I am, hope grows in me.
When I am going the wrong way, please bless me with discomfort so I’d come to my senses and follow Your purpose. Do not make me bitter. Make me open that I can give what is genuine inside my heart and receive all the good things in life.
Most of all, thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. For saving my life. And Your endless grace.
In Your name Jesus,
Amen
