The two emotions that shadow the ladies
running from the empty tomb of Christ make strange bedfellows. Fear and joy
appear to be like oil and water … they don’t seem to mix. What are the roots of
these two emotions? Where are they coming from? Are these emotions that we
should share in the same intensity that these ladies experienced? Was it a fear
that is due anyone running through a cemetery when a body is missing, or was it
coming from a different source? What was this fear pushing their shoes and
causing them to run so fast? Were they running from something or to something?
Was the fear atmospheric and territorial, or was it internal and immune from
external circumstance? Was it fear of God and His light or fear of the dark?
Has
modern man’s concept of God become so warped that he can no longer find room in
the same sentence for “God” and “fear?” Has modern man’s understanding of the
Almighty shrunken to the point that He is viewed as some Sweet Marshmallow in
the sky that we shall all fall into one day? Has God lost His backbone in the
eye of the modern unregenerate? Maybe so; but the fact remains that God is Who God is and not merely Who we think He is. Our doubts
cannot eliminate the reality of Who He is anymore than
they can eliminate the power of gravity
What about the emotion of joy; what kind
of joy was it? Certainly it was more than a lollipop experience. How would it
measure up to the joy that we experience at the birth of a child? The joy of
childbirth wobbles a bit after seven sleepless nights walking a colicky child,
but it perseveres beyond all of life’s negatives. Was the joy lessening as it
distanced itself from the tomb? Is the skip in their step still available to
us?
One of the
most important lessons that we can learn through this window into history past
is the temporary and unpredictable nature of emotions. The shifting sands of
feelings are a bad place to anchor your ship. Feelings are real, and only a
fool would deny them, but a greater fool would let them drive the car of
purpose and planning. Our life with God must be more than a mood or a moment’s
pleasure.
God has given
us the power of choice. It is certainly not unlimited. It is ours, however. The
choices we make reveal the loves that we hold most dear. Our choices are
squeezed between the mental and the emotional. We choose to believe, but we
cannot believe what we do not know. Therefore, the Bible correctly instructs us
that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. We are called to
know what we believe and why. Knowledge delivers a deathblow to superstition.
The Christian life produces fear and joy; but these are mere by-products
of something far better. Our security is in a God-interrupted history. God has
been on this planet. We believe this by faith. Life has meaning; that meaning
is Jesus. By faith, we will to trust Him. The winds of mysterious circumstances
may blow hard upon us, and the tug of doubts and feelings may pull hard at our faith, but we shall stand by faith as an act of
the will, and in Him, we shall find peace and joy.
Matthew
28:8-10
Running with Fear
A. The fear at
birth
B. The fear in
life
C. The fear of
death
Running with Joy
A. The joy of
freedom
B. The joy of
fellowship
C. The joy of
finality
Running without Either
A. The height of
resolve
B. The length of
resolve
C. The depth of
resolve