Echoing HopeSample

The Tomb Is Still Empty

If I’ve learned anything in my journey with pain, it is that the love of Jesus helps me step into my pain differently. I don’t have to ignore it to make it through the day. I don’t have to let it define me either. Rather, what defines me is God’s declaration of love and my own quest to become more fully human like Jesus. 

This can be abstract for me at times. However, I continue to find that the classical spiritual exercises, such as prayer, Bible study, solitude, silence, worship, and so on, open the windows of my interior just enough to let God’s healing light in—however dim it may seem at times. 

Something else I continue to learn is that although wounds heal, scars don’t easily disappear. I’m increasingly okay with that. As an adult, I’ve returned to my scars to discover that in them I bear the marks of healing, though I’ll never be able to make them fully fade away. Jesus’s scars didn’t disappear either, so I guess I’m in good company. The fact that I still have them is an invitation to explore how else God might redeem my pain to bring more restoration to my soul and to send me out to echo hope for the flourishing of others. 

In Jesus, I’m learning the rhythms of redemption as I become more fully human like and with him. May you step into your next moment with an overwhelming awareness that Jesus is for you, with you, and in you. May you discover a holy courage to face challenges, pain, and loss with Godlike empathy for yourself and others. 

And may the echoing hope of an empty grave empower you to bring the humanity of Jesus with you wherever you go. 

Read or listen to John 20:1–18 again. Imagine you are part of the story. What does it look, feel, sound, smell, and taste like? When Jesus says “Mary,” imagine it is your name being said. Spend time meditating on the impact of Jesus’s naming you in this moment. How does it open you up to a new way of holding your hurts? 

We hope this Plan encouraged you. Learn more about ECHOING HOPE by Kurt Willems here  .