After Barry’s message yesterday about how we should respond when the sun goes down instead of standing still. I thought that I would share a little more detail about one of the things I mentioned in last week’s blog.
One of the miracles, a Sun Stand Still experience came when I was struggling through the despair and grief of my baby brother dying. It occurred just before the third anniversary of his passing. I had begun to see my God a little more clearly but I just hadn’t gotten to that place where I could truly trust; the place where I wasn’t “stuck” on the repeat cycle of my brother’s death. I was still caught up in my loss and what my family had lost. I received a phone call from someone I knew in the church. She was someone I liked and thought highly of, but not someone I would necessarily call a friend. We liked each other well enough; we just weren’t high on each other’s priority list. She called and asked me if I liked the band “Third Day”. I thought to myself what a weird thing to call and ask me. I do happen to love Third Day and in fact would rate them very high up on my favorites list. She proceeded to tell me that she had these tickets for a concert and asked me if I would want to attend with her. I was a confused and I’m sad to say somewhat suspicious. Speechless for a moment (those of you who know me, know this very rarely happens:-D), my brain was spinning trying to figure out what she really wanted, did she really mean to call me? I accepted her invitation after a few minutes of stammering around, she then told me she had purchased front row tickets and had meet the band passes. I am positive this is a joke or there is some “agenda” attached. I thought for sure she was going to tell me I now owed her $500.00 for the tickets or something along those lines. But, she simply stated that she had bought two tickets well advance of the concert and every time she thought about who to invite, I came to her mind. So she invited me, her treat. In my shock I didn’t pay attention to the date of the concert, until I got back to my desk and wrote it on my calendar. April 14th.
One of the miracles, a Sun Stand Still experience came when I was struggling through the despair and grief of my baby brother dying. It occurred just before the third anniversary of his passing. I had begun to see my God a little more clearly but I just hadn’t gotten to that place where I could truly trust; the place where I wasn’t “stuck” on the repeat cycle of my brother’s death. I was still caught up in my loss and what my family had lost. I received a phone call from someone I knew in the church. She was someone I liked and thought highly of, but not someone I would necessarily call a friend. We liked each other well enough; we just weren’t high on each other’s priority list. She called and asked me if I liked the band “Third Day”. I thought to myself what a weird thing to call and ask me. I do happen to love Third Day and in fact would rate them very high up on my favorites list. She proceeded to tell me that she had these tickets for a concert and asked me if I would want to attend with her. I was a confused and I’m sad to say somewhat suspicious. Speechless for a moment (those of you who know me, know this very rarely happens:-D), my brain was spinning trying to figure out what she really wanted, did she really mean to call me? I accepted her invitation after a few minutes of stammering around, she then told me she had purchased front row tickets and had meet the band passes. I am positive this is a joke or there is some “agenda” attached. I thought for sure she was going to tell me I now owed her $500.00 for the tickets or something along those lines. But, she simply stated that she had bought two tickets well advance of the concert and every time she thought about who to invite, I came to her mind. So she invited me, her treat. In my shock I didn’t pay attention to the date of the concert, until I got back to my desk and wrote it on my calendar. April 14th.
I would be going to see Third Day on the third anniversary of my brother dying. That first wash of “is this really real” came flooding over me. Then I felt the Lord begin to impress upon me, “the mourning is over, now is the time to celebrate what I have done for your brother”. In 2006, April 14th fell on Good Friday… Good Friday is the day we recognize/mourn the death of Jesus. But on the THIRD DAY He rose again. It is because of that Third Day that we celebrate! We have eternal life! It is because of the great sacrifice and then the third day that I know that death has been defeated; it doesn’t hold my brother down. Matthew may not be with us anymore but one day we will be together for eternity. I grieve my loss and my family’s loss, but I can celebrate Matthew’s gain.
After Matthew died I was stuck on Good Friday. So many of us have a “Good Friday” “Sun going down” experience and we stay there. We experience grief, pain, disappointment, rejection, anger, un-forgiveness and we choose to stay there, replaying it over and over in our hearts and minds, instead of clinging to the promise of the Third Day. We forget the promise that the sun will rise again.
John 11:25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.
Romans 8:18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will reveal to us later.
Good Friday is a part of this fallen world. We do suffer, we will suffer. We will experience grief, pain, disappointment, rejection, anger, and un-forgiveness. Our choice is to stay in our “Good Friday” place or to celebrate, anticipate, pray for, be audacious about, what is to come. To watch the sun rise, remembered that in His death, Jesus conquered it for ALL of us, and celebrate with audacity!
What are you choosing? Is your “Good Friday” “Sun going down” experience stuck on the repeat cycle? Or will you choose this day to remember the Third Day?
-Rebecca
To read other entries in the Sun Stand Still blog, please click here
After Matthew died I was stuck on Good Friday. So many of us have a “Good Friday” “Sun going down” experience and we stay there. We experience grief, pain, disappointment, rejection, anger, un-forgiveness and we choose to stay there, replaying it over and over in our hearts and minds, instead of clinging to the promise of the Third Day. We forget the promise that the sun will rise again.
John 11:25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.
Romans 8:18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will reveal to us later.
Good Friday is a part of this fallen world. We do suffer, we will suffer. We will experience grief, pain, disappointment, rejection, anger, and un-forgiveness. Our choice is to stay in our “Good Friday” place or to celebrate, anticipate, pray for, be audacious about, what is to come. To watch the sun rise, remembered that in His death, Jesus conquered it for ALL of us, and celebrate with audacity!
What are you choosing? Is your “Good Friday” “Sun going down” experience stuck on the repeat cycle? Or will you choose this day to remember the Third Day?
-Rebecca
To read other entries in the Sun Stand Still blog, please click here
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