Preparing for Easter

By Jordan Francis (Phoenix 2018)

As I write this blog, I have caught my second virus of the month.

I guess that’s what you get when you have three kids (ages seven, three, and two) who like to bring surprises home. Every time I get sick, so many emotions run through my mind and body: frustration, anger, sadness, guilt, fear, and anxiety. All the work I should be doing, the people I’m letting down, the money I need to make for my family.

Isn’t it so strange that something like a virus can flip our world upside down? We could be humming on all cylinders with the things we are supposed to be doing, and then, out of nowhere, that rhythm comes to a halt!

All of this reminds me of my fragility—how weak I am and how quickly something can derail or change the course of my life.

Easter is a time when we celebrate the God who came for the weak. Easter is a time when we celebrate the God who defeated death. Jesus came for you and me—not because of how good we are at what we do but because of our weaknesses and brokenness. Our strength comes in recognizing this desperate need.

As we prepare for Easter, my hope is that, as youth workers, we don’t just prepare others, but we prepare ourselves. We spend a lot of time proclaiming this to others or embodying it in how we live our lives, but let’s make sure we take it in for ourselves this Easter. Let’s take the time to reflect on our own weak places, brokenness, and God’s willingness to suffer on our behalf to bring reconciliation through the cross.

Here are three ways we can prepare for Easter this year:

• Read through a Gospel and take the time to focus on Jesus’s life and ministry leading up to His death. Take in all He went through for us.
• Pray for God to deepen your understanding of Easter this year. God, the Holy Spirit, can reveal things about Easter that we may have missed in our busyness.
• Take some time to focus on the areas of your life that you lament, and wish were different. This reminds us of our inability to control everything and our need for God to come and do something about our circumstances.

One day there will be no more 24-hour bugs, anxiety attacks, bouts of depression, teen suicide, cancer, and growing old. Jesus defeated death. But until that day, we remind ourselves of this truth by celebrating Easter.

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Banner Photo by Patricia McCarty from Pexels.