The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.
– Henry David Thoreau, 1854.
My Southern-born mom put it less eloquently – but more graphically – when she declared, “I’m so low I have to look up to see a snake’s belly.”
It’s hard to get much lower than the dirt. And that’s where the serpent wants us, groveling in the dust as he slithers over us.
Christians are under attack like no other time in history. There is more persecution of believers in this age than ever before. Satan roams the earth, storming homes, churches and families. He feeds on shattered lives, hearts, and relationships while he grows in insolence against heaven.
We have been shaken as everything we believe is trampled under the brutality. Our trust in God’s Word faces its most severe challenge. What happened to all His promises?
Alone, trapped in hopelessness, our people suffer in quiet despair. We can’t even understand the heartbreak happening to us, much less tell someone else.
Just like Jesus’ first disciples.
When the disciples met the Christ, their hopes soared. The majesty and power of the carpenter ignited their imagination. They believed. He was the Messiah, the King of the Jews. They followed Him, watched His miracles, listened to His word, and rejoiced. The Kingdom of God had arrived.
They eagerly waited for the Anointed One to take His throne. Instead, he bled and died at the hands of the executioners, sending a shock wave through the Jewish believers.
He was dead and buried. Like the dreams of His followers.
So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst….
– John 20:19
In their panic, they forgot everything He told them. Imagining they were next to be killed and in complete despair, they trembled behind locked doors and waited to die.
Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week….
– Matthew 28:1
Then the day of promise began to dawn.
True to His word, Jesus rose again. Nothing but the graveclothes of their misconceptions remained in the tomb. The miracle of miracles shattered the desperation.
Slaying the serpent. Raising us up out of the dirt.
Seating us in the heavens with Him.
