Every year, Easter comes and we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This most amazing event, unique and glorious, is the reason why we can have faith in a savior. Jesus had to be born, live, work, minister and eventually, die. But if he had died and stayed dead that day he would only live in history books, not in our hearts and in Eternity. It is a scary thought to consider what the world and our own lives might look like if the hope and light of Christ was never here. Sure, the world is a dark place with unimaginable suffering. But there are bursts of goodness throughout all the world and so many people find comfort and purpose in worshiping the God that resurrected.

This Easter I’d like to take a step back and acknowledge what smaller, whispered promise God made (and keeps) through the resurrection. Think of the horror that took place on Good Friday. An event so powerful took place that we can still feel the heaviness of it many centuries later. My mother texted me today while I was napping. I woke up, groggy and tired, to a text reminding me that during this time of  day, when I had been peacefully sleeping, Jesus was suffering. I read it and to be honest my immediate reaction was something like, “okay.” but only a couple seconds later, I felt the weight of it. Jesus was dying. When we are confronted with this truth we all know on the anniversary of it, the weight of the horror becomes so much more tangible and powerful. The world seems quieter today. Today, I drove with no music and whispered, “thank you” to the heavens where my God is. Thousands of years ago, God himself was slain on a cross. The Bible describes this event in detail. Jesus was mocked, beaten, bloodied, and shamed. No words can fully describe the darkness of that day. Onlookers wept. The earth shook. Jesus himself cried out to his Father. Then, he died. The earth was covered in darkness and the time of God embodied on earth was simply over.

Three Days Later— a miracle. The murder of God transformed into the most miraculous event in history. The goodness of the resurrection has echoed into time and space ever since. We celebrate it today, knowing that without that day we would have no salvation. Notice what God did. This is the way He works. He takes the worst and makes it into the best. This has been a great comfort in my life. The most miraculous thing God ever did was at its basis a bad thing turning to a good thing. Imagine how he can do this in your own life. As you meditate on the resurrection, meditate on this too. God knows your worst self, your worst pain, your worst trauma. He knows it all and he knows how to create something beautiful out of it. You need only look to the resurrection as proof.