GOOD FRIDAY.......IS GOOD!

Today is the day we remember the Crucifixion of Jesus, Good Friday. That most ominous and foreboding day when our Savior was brutally beaten and hung on a wooden cross, murdered, like a common criminal. It was the "darkest" day in human history.

Question. Have you ever had a "dark" day? Are you experiencing some "darkness" even now? Times when life is just not so great? Times when things are headed south in a hurry, and and it seems all is lost? At some point, unfortunately, we all have been there (or ARE there now).

And when those times come, we have at least a couple of choices. We can run and hide, or we can face the trial, and trust the “God in us” to work walk us through it. And of course, option two is not always so easy. In fact, it it usually most difficult. That's why most of us often choose the "run and hide" option. Because when that dark moment of discouragement comes knocking, it is SO EASY to just turn off the lights and pull the covers over our head and ignore anything that goes “bump in the night”…right?

That's why often times we preoccupy with our TV, Cell phone, computer, whatever…mentally and emotionally ignoring the creeping darkness, so we wont have to confront. But think about this. What if in those times of avoidance, we are missing what God may have for us…yes, EVEN in our Darkest Discouragement? And, what if we decided to encounter and even explore more intensely that frightening darkness and the Holy One who is with us, even IN that frightening darkness?

You see, if we could have written the Biblical script for Good Friday, no doubt we would have omitted the betrayal and trial and beatings and jeers and mockery and the cross and the torturous death. We would have omitted the Discouragement and Darkness...and gone right to Easter! Because no one likes the pain...the Darkness!

So heres the deal…we have always been told there there is a “silver lining in every cloud”…and I want you to know IT IS TRUE! "ALL things DO work together for good..."

So, here is Jesus hanging on a wooden cross, stretched out to die this agonizing death in the blistering sun. And do you remember what happened? This is great. At the hottest part of that daytime the Bible states that …“darkness fell over whole region!”

Now, at first glance that sounds like something bad...haunting...I mean, its "Darkness" after all! But wait. Because maybe, just maybe, that darkness (at least for Jesus' sake) was not meant to be a bad thing. What if that darkness was more like a cup of cold water to a thirsty soul? What if God used EVEN that "darkness" as a blessed respite from the heat in the midst of Jesus' suffering? Because when it happened the Bible also states that Jesus turned His gaze to God and shouted…“Father, I entrust My spirit into Your hands!”

Now maybe that sounds hollow to you, given the circumstances, but I’m believing that what transpired was this. At that moment, Jesus was able to place His dying self into God’s hands with such a profound trust because...LISTEN... because He had learned to walk in the dark! He knew in the core of his being, that even in death, God goes with him all the way. A BEAUTIFUL truth...learned in the midst of....Darkness.

I pray you have a blessed Good Friday and Easter. And I pray that whatever "Darkness" you may be walking through right now, that you will sense the presence of our gracious God. The one who is with YOU all the way, as He was with His Son. The one who calls you His Beloved as Jesus was His Beloved. The one who promises to "never leave you nor forsake you." The one who promises to "meet your need" and even grant "the desires of your heart."....Blessings....