Redemption!

You may be stuck in the worst rut of your life. There looks like no way out, no way to change the situation, no possible break in the constant pressure of dealing with it. Complete and utter helplessness has overcome you because there is not a thing you can do about it. That is the bad news.

Yes, from a perspective of sight, things may not look so good. To his followers Jesus looked dead and it looked over. That's what they saw. But if we have learned anything about God, he is not predictable in the way he demonstrates his almighty power of Redemption. 

We can imagine how distraught his followers were when he did not just come down from that cross and walk away, triumphant over the situation. It typifies our reaction as humans that our perception of what God will do is somehow connected to our logic. That's why what looks so bad to us seems like it can only stay that way- our finances, our addictions, our relationships, our families. Logic dictates a tragic outcome.

Something amazingly simple happened though when Jesus died. He took a few days to come back, just like it takes us some time to go through what we have to go through before we can make an epic comeback. His comeback was the most epic, but it shows us that we have to kill the situation we are in before we can resurrect the new outcome.

One day he looked like a mere man; the next like a triumphant son of God. One day we look like all is lost; the next we look like a hero for weathering the storm. But the lessons learned during the time when we were in the hell storm tell us not to return there anytime soon. 

Here's the really good news- the God who invented redemption is with you in every moment of every day, and he knows when you need a hand to lift you up. But when he gives you his hand, don't be surprised when you see the nail marks in it.

That was the price he paid to lift you out of that rut.

Redemption!