To Rise, You Must Fall
The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here, he is risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.”- Matthew 28:5-6
Happy Easter, everyone! The time has come. Christ has risen and death was defeated!
For those of you who may not know the series of events that transpired before Easter Sunday, let’s walk through it. To hit the main points, Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane and was betrayed by Judas, was beaten and sentenced to be crucified over Barabbas (who was a murderer), and then left dead inside a tomb. While all of this was happening, Jesus’ disciple, Peter, denied Jesus not once, but three times. Come Easter Sunday, the tombstone would be moved and the people would discover that Jesus’ body wasn’t there and see for themselves that He has risen from the dead.
From the outside looking in, it seems like Jesus’ whole world was falling apart when in reality, it was actually falling right into place. Jesus remained faithful and obedient to God the entire time, but do any of us really think that Jesus knew EXACTLY what was going to happen during that time? No way. Jesus’ life was on the line and He willingly submitted to everything that was happening because despite all the chaos, Jesus knew that His faith would see him through. When our world is crashing down on us and life seems to be beating us down to the ground, where do you turn? When people you thought were your friends all of a sudden switch up on you, how do you respond? When $#!+ just isn’t going your way, what do you do? Or better yet, how do you keep moving forward through that? Because believe me I am no stranger to being lied to, betrayed, and straight up hurt by people whom I thought I could trust and I’ve definitely been guilty of being a victim to my circumstances, but what is it that keeps me going when I fall down? It’s knowing that I will rise up again.
When you look at the legends throughout history, nothing was handed to them. It took those people blood, sweat and tears to become the champions who rose up and achieved their goals. Having faith is one thing, but the sacrifices we as athletes make to be great is what pushes us to go further because despite all the work we may be putting in, we don’t know for certain that things are going to work out in our favor. Look at Jesus. Despite all the good He was doing and the miracles he was performing, people still turned their backs on him and shouted at Jesus to be crucified! God sacrificed Jesus, his one and only son so that whoever believed in Him will have eternal life (John 3:16), but there was no guarantee that the people would follow in Jesus’ footsteps or love him the way he loves us. After all is said and done, what is the point of the sacrifices we make if there’s no guarantee that it’ll work in our favor? Why should we keep going when our world is falling apart? Because the same way Jesus Christ rose from the dead, we too shall rise up to see another day and achieve our goals. There’s nothing set in stone that solidifies our success in anything and failure is inevitable, but the only way we can achieve anything after falling down is by getting back up.
Just like Jesus had to trust that God would raise Him up even though he was nailed to the cross, we too must trust that God will raise us up at the proper time, especially when the world around us seems to be falling apart. So the next time you feel like giving up on your goals or crying “woe is me”, remember how Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for us. Most importantly, remember why Jesus sacrificed for us because he certainly didn’t do it for us to give up on ourselves when the going gets tough. To rise, you must fall. You may feel like the world is falling apart now, but your world is actually falling into place. Trust the process and take that extra time to practice, meditate, or even just say hello to someone who is important to you. We will all rise up at the proper time, but will you be like Jesus and trust that God will take care of you?
Your Easter Sunday is coming. Will you be ready?