Easter: Back From the
Dead
. . . (G)reater is he
that is in you,
than he that is in the
world.
-- 1 John 4:4
The
greatest thing about Easter is that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, came
back from the dead. He's alive! And He can intervene in everyday life at any
time, for anyone, anywhere. When He does, boom! You come back from the dead,
too.
Last Sunday,
a fellow at our church, Larry Beck, told how it happened to him. It's a
powerful Easter tale that is so screwy, so serendipitous, that it just makes me
laugh and sing for joy. What a God we serve, and what amazing ways He uses to
let us know He is with us and for us.
It seems
that Larry, a father of five living in western Nebraska, had been shocked to
come home from work one day and hear his wife of nearly 20 years tell him she
wanted a divorce. It rocked his world. Rapid-fire change took over his life. Three
months later, he was living with a brother-in-law many miles away, working at a
new job, and declining rapidly from the shock stage to utter despair.
"Things, in
my mind, had gone downhill a lot," Larry recalls. "It seems like I wasn't
seeing my kids much. It didn't seem like anything would ever be like I wanted
it to be: living in the same house again and on the same page."
His
children were ages 19 to 3. The eldest had started college. So much was
changing, and so much was so hard, that he was overwhelmed with sadness, confusion,
frustration and fear.
He was
driving one night, aimless, in utter despair, hopeless.
Now,
naturally, as a card-carrying western Nebraskan, he had a twangy country and
western station on the car radio, blaring out a tune. But all of a sudden, Larry
heard a man's voice, saying:
GREATER
IS HE THAT IS IN YOU, THAN HE THAT IS IN THE WORLD.
Hunhhh?
Whaaa? He 'bout drove off the road.
Larry was
raised a Catholic. He knew some Scripture. That sentence sounded like something
from the Bible. But he hadn't heard it before.
And boy!
Was that ever weird, coming out of a country and western station!
Then he
heard it again:
GREATER
IS HE THAT IS IN YOU, THAN HE THAT IS IN THE WORLD.
Wow! That's
odd! Larry snapped off the radio. There. That'll fix it.
Here the
voice came again:
GREATER
IS HE THAT IS IN YOU, THAN HE THAT IS IN THE WORLD.
This time,
there was no music playing underneath the voice. It still sounded as though it
was coming out of his car radio. But he had turned his radio off. He punched
the knob on again, then off again, to make sure.
And then he
heard it again, two or three more times.
It couldn't
be.
Could it?
He knew it was.
He suddenly realized that his
despair was gone. He felt completely different than he had just moments before.
The loneliness and depression were erased, as if they had never been. He felt
delivered . . . dazed . . . awed.
He was changed in a twinkling.
"I knew
what it meant," Larry says today. "God was speaking straight to me, letting me
know He was with me. I felt peaceful about it, really comforted. I just felt a
new confidence. He was saying, 'I'm bigger than all of this, you know. I have
something more for you.'"
Put the
past in the past. Move ahead, to new life.
The divorce went through. He readjusted
his relationships with his children. Things were OK after all.
Love came back into his life, too --
bigtime. He will soon celebrate his 17th wedding anniversary with
his warm and vivacious wife, Jo.
They both volunteer as lay counselors
in our church's marriage ministry, and share the excitement of eight children
and 19 grandchildren between them. They're working, they're traveling, they're
active, and despite going through some rough and tough times in the past, they're
joyous, triumphant Christians.
Can you say
it any louder and clearer?
Better yet,
can you shout it?
GREATER IS HE THAT IS IN YOU, THAN HE THAT IS IN THE WORLD.
Jesus Christ is risen today! He is
greater than anything! He loves you and wants to be Lord of your life!
Alleluia! Amen! †
