When All Hell Breaks Loose

It’s the Easter season. From where you stand, it probably doesn’t seem like it. Watching Pope Francis bless an empty St. Peter's Square is sad but profound. Nothing is as it normally is. And here’s what I do in times like these – I look at Jesus.

• When things are chaotic around me, I look at Jesus.

• When the Church is being stupid with each other and the world, I look at Jesus.

• When I’m not sure what to make of the various views of Scripture that are sacred to particular groups of people, I look at Jesus.

• When things are changing and I’m uncertain and fearful, I look at Jesus.

He’s my steady place.

So, during this Easter season, let’s look at what Jesus said 2,000 years ago around this time:

“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” - John 17:25-26

When Jesus prayed these words, He was sitting with His disciples (followers) at a dinner table. It would be the last supper before His crucifixion. Chaos was about to ensue. So, Jesus gathered His followers together. He prayed for them. And he did something as basic and tangible and memory enriching as eating. They ate together. It was the Passover feast, which was a very special, familiar meal.

Those were very deliberate things Christ did before, quite literally, all hell would break loose.

How are we meant to live—not just grit our teeth and endure, not just hunker down and make it through, but actually live—when all hell breaks loose? When life is nowhere close to what you’d prefer?

1. Again, they gathered. Prayed. And ate. Think about how beautiful, basic and practical these are for us today. (Think outside the box, for now, dear friend!)

2. Receive the love and life of the Father, and Jesus, by the Presence and power of the Holy Spirit today. Literally, say, “God I receive all the love and life you offer me this day.” It’s in these days, when everything else gets so shaken, that if we pay attention, we can sometimes experience this love more than ever before.

3. Read again the prayer Jesus prayed for you and for me. Quite frankly, pray this prayer for yourself. Make it personal (except for the “I myself may be in them” part, it all fits for you and for me during these times.)

When we settle down, life really does come to us in the middle of the mess.

~ Nancy

CALLING

If you want the whole prayer (it’s amazing!), read John chapters 13-17 over the next few days. Pay attention to how tender Jesus was with His followers—that’s His same posture toward us us today.