When I was younger, I thought I needed to constantly earn God’s love and attention by doing more and more. After I trusted Jesus to be my Savior and forgive my sins at age seven, I quickly misunderstood God’s grace in my everyday life.
I would pray to God over and over asking Him to save me because of the doubts I had about my Salvation. At the time, I didn’t realize I couldn’t add anything more to the work only Jesus could have finished on the Cross. Jesus didn’t need me to fill in any gaps He missed through my daily efforts, because His blood literally covered every broken space and heart saturated with sin.
Fast forward to today, and I am by no means perfect or have it all figured out, but God has taught me to rest in His grace that requires nothing other than my weaknesses, inadequacies, and brokenness.
It doesn’t make sense, right? I give Jesus every tottering, on the verge of breaking part of me, while He makes me into someone who is strengthened, healed, and enough? Well, that is the beautiful mystery of the Gospel – the good news – for the person who decides to claim the Cross as his/her own.
Good Friday has always felt like an oxymoron to me; how could the darkest day in human history be called “good”? For three days, Jesus sat in grief and sorrow. For three days, His followers sat in confusion and heartbreak. How could anyone make sense of death this earthshattering and heart-shaking?
We’ve all sat in those places, too. Places of confusion, heartbreak, loss, grief, betrayal, anxiety, and mental, emotional, and spiritual pain. But, we also know that without those pauses – sometimes longer than we would like – beauty could never come.
Right before Jesus breathes His last breath, this is the scene described in Luke 23:44-45:
“Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And when Jesus cried out with a loud voice, He said, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.’ “
Midday darkness gave way to all-day light. Darkness preceded the temple’s veil being ripped apart – signifying the barrier between us and Him that Jesus destroyed with His life.
Have you claimed the truth of this Cross for yourself? The Cross that held Jesus’ hands and feet with piercing nails; the Cross that caught every drop of blood falling from the crown of thorns on His head; the Cross from which He cried, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34).
When I first claimed Jesus’ Cross as my own death and victory by just believing in it, my human nature convinced me that wasn’t the end of my efforts. I tried, I strived, I cried, I even dreaded praying and reading the Bible, pretty much every day.
BUT, the grace that tells me I am enough because of His power, His love, His constant choosing of me, and HIS cross proved to be louder than the lies of the self-centered salvation I used to believe.
Do I always get it right? Absolutely not! But, I am learning to daily choose the Cross over my own efforts. And I am learning that it is okay to sit in grief and sorrow. That this temporary darkness is actually a seed, prepping the ground of my heart for a worth-all-the-pain flourishing and redemption.
Because that same Cross gives me the hopeful expectation of a guaranteed and beautiful resurrection.
This is why we celebrate Easter, and this is why Good Friday is truly and forever good.
Remember, the Cross gave way to an empty tomb and stone that has been forever rolled away!
If you have never chosen to claim the Cross of Jesus for yourself to cover the consequences of sin, save you, and give you new life, I believe today is the day to simply believe!
You are so loved, chosen, created with purpose, valued by Heaven, and worth every ounce of pain Jesus endured for “the joy set before Him” (Hebrews 12:2).
Jesus chose the Cross for you, will you choose Him?
-Dee
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9
For the Times In-Between 
Dee you hit the bullseye! Thank you
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