“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Romans 15:13

At the end of Good Friday’s crucifixion Jesus is laid to rest in a tomb. Imagine what it must have been like for Mary and His followers who stood at the cross and those, like Peter, who failed Jesus and fled. Although Jesus told them about the Resurrection, they didn’t get it. All they saw was His suffering and death – an executed exhibition of rejection.

It’s hard to stand betwixt and between our hopes and dreams when we don’t understand what’s going on around us. When crosses of suffering in our lives are too much to bear we may ask, “Where are you, God?”

We may lose hope. Maybe we’re stuck in suffering mode and can’t see when Easter hallelujahs will dawn on our horizon. Maybe we’re in a holding pattern, waiting for opportunities. Maybe we’re between a rock and a hard place in our relationships at work, home, wherever.

Sometimes the challenge of being betwixt and between is the unknown, not being able to clearly see the path ahead. That’s when full-on TRUSTING GOD is important. Maybe things may not turn out as we hoped (prayed, wailed) but God’s got us firmly ensconced in His Everlasting Arms of Divine Love that will lead, push (help carry us limping along) through our challenges.

Not our will, but God’s will be done?

Remember, Jesus didn’t stay in the grave, He rose. That’s what Easter is about: Resurrected Love, Resurrection Joy and Hope.

Hope that is a gift of God. Hope packaged with grace to keep us standing like Mary at the foot of the cross. Hope wrapped with mercy and forgiveness, since on the cross Jesus atoned for our transgressions, failures, stumbles and falls. Hope that lifted Peter who failed Jesus miserably, yet forgiven became the rock upon which Jesus built His church.

Whenever we are betwixt and between, Christ is with us. If we believe and accept the gift God has given us, we can hope in Christ and let His sacrificial love lift the despairing bits of our hearts and lives.

EASTER IS COMING!

grace, peace + betwixt & between Hope

Virginia : )

“Hope is not some vague belief that ‘all will work out well,’ but biblical hope is the certainty that things finally have a victorious meaning no matter how they turn out. We learn that from Jesus, which gives us the courage to live our lives forward.”   Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM