I’ll be real honest. Satan did not want me to celebrate Easter this past weekend. I have never had to overcome so many obstacles just to get into the door of a church on Good Friday and Easter.
I was truly livid when I missed half to Good Friday service because of terrible traffic and the unbearable parking conditions of the greater Pittsburgh area. By the time I finally got into the sanctuary, I was extremely frustrated and my heart was in the completely wrong place.
Then on Easter, I planned to meet my awesome girlfriend at church for the 9:00 service, but the bus she usually takes, without announcement, was not running on Easter. And I would have gone to pick her up, but I had dropped my keys somewhere under my seat and I could not find them without disturbing the fervent worshippers beside me....
I was truly livid when I missed half to Good Friday service because of terrible traffic and the unbearable parking conditions of the greater Pittsburgh area. By the time I finally got into the sanctuary, I was extremely frustrated and my heart was in the completely wrong place.
Then on Easter, I planned to meet my awesome girlfriend at church for the 9:00 service, but the bus she usually takes, without announcement, was not running on Easter. And I would have gone to pick her up, but I had dropped my keys somewhere under my seat and I could not find them without disturbing the fervent worshippers beside me....
Needless to say the enemy had a clear plan to thwart my favorite weekend of the year. On a weekend where I just wanted to celebrate, the enemy did not sleep, he does not rest.
But neither does our God.
In the midst of adversity that seems constant and unassailable, our God is even more constant and more unassailable because he is more powerful. Satan may be able to keep up out of the church doors, but he cannot keep out hearts from God’s heart, for that battle was won a long time ago when Jesus took that separation and defeated it on the cross and through the power of his resurrection.
So in my reflection on the weekend I began to notice something. Satan’s attempt to separate me from the Easter message actually revealed to me the beauty of what Easter is all about. God used the attack, to draw me closer to Him, as he always does.
Satan cannot thwart God’s plan in our hearts. Easter still happened, the resurrection, the cross, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Maundy Thursday, it all still happened, and it still happens in our hearts, no matter what our circumstances are.
You can take our circumstances, but you can never take, our HEARTS!
The reality is, we could never go to church again, Satan could keep us out every Sunday, and it would mean nothing! Cause our hearts cannot be taken, they cannot be torn away, they are blocked off and sanctioned for the Lord.
Thanks for the help Satan.
Thanks for the lesson God.
-jon
But neither does our God.
In the midst of adversity that seems constant and unassailable, our God is even more constant and more unassailable because he is more powerful. Satan may be able to keep up out of the church doors, but he cannot keep out hearts from God’s heart, for that battle was won a long time ago when Jesus took that separation and defeated it on the cross and through the power of his resurrection.
So in my reflection on the weekend I began to notice something. Satan’s attempt to separate me from the Easter message actually revealed to me the beauty of what Easter is all about. God used the attack, to draw me closer to Him, as he always does.
Satan cannot thwart God’s plan in our hearts. Easter still happened, the resurrection, the cross, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Maundy Thursday, it all still happened, and it still happens in our hearts, no matter what our circumstances are.
You can take our circumstances, but you can never take, our HEARTS!
The reality is, we could never go to church again, Satan could keep us out every Sunday, and it would mean nothing! Cause our hearts cannot be taken, they cannot be torn away, they are blocked off and sanctioned for the Lord.
Thanks for the help Satan.
Thanks for the lesson God.
-jon
