Hakuna Matata: He is Risen Indeed

This is our second Easter in East Africa. And while we miss our family and friends so much, this is not a terrible place to be reminded of and celebrate the significance of Christ's resurrection.

This Morning

In 2011, we spent Easter in Moshi, Tanzani where Nate previously worked/lived for 6 months in 2007. I remembered having a big revelation when we spent Easter in Moshi about the importance of the resurrection of Christ. Yes, I grew up in the church and could tell you why it was important, but I often would focus on Christ's death...without giving much thought about the resurrection. Honestly, I think it is because death is tragic and we can relate to it way more than we can understand this really crazy and impossible thing of someone coming alive again after death. I went back and read the post, and though I am tempted to copy and paste some here, I encourage you to go back and read it. I will reiterate one thing though that I posted then because it has been a word that has been on my mind.

Sunrise Service

Hope.

This is the significance of the resurrection. There is so much in this world that is awful. And not, I-had-a-bad-day-awful. But really heartbreaking, tragic, and unjust awful. The kind of awful that makes you doubt. The kind that makes you wonder what the point is. The kinds of awful that makes you wonder where God is. Brussels awful. Cancer awful. A baby being orphaned at the hospital and dying a few weeks later awful. A kid being left at the hospital for weeks without his family who has had to leave to try to find/raise money to pay his hospital bill so he can go home awful. Yes, these last two are specific instances here. [Please note: I'm in no way criticizing how this hospital handles this kind of stuff because if they let one go without paying, they would have to let them all go and then the hospital would cease to exist and no one would be helped. My point here is that poverty is awful. Real poverty...the kind most of us never experience, though we may see it.]

Seriously, what is the point of enduring the awful things in this world if there is nothing else beyond it? I'm not trying to be a downer, but I often wonder how people without a future hope (a hope that in the end all things will be made right) can make sense of this world and endure through tragedy. Sure, there are a lot of great things many of us get to experience (whether or not you believe in this hope). Things that can keep us going for a while. But not forever.

Putting Flowers on a Cross

Hope.

I hope for a lot of things. Most of them are things that will make my life easier and more comfortable. But real hope is this. Moving from death unto life. This world is not permanent. But there is a God beyond all time. A God who is living because he conquered death. He has made a way for us to join him in eternity through Christ's death and resurrection. He promises that in the end, he will make all things right. From death to life, sorrow to complete joy. No more tears, no more sin, no more sickness, no more injustice.

The Road to Jerusalem....Shopping Centre

Hope.

I so often live without remembering the ultimate reality that this will pass and there is something much more real beyond what currently feels like reality. This where I get stressed over things I don't need to stress about. This is where I live in fear. This is where I forget that there is so much more beyond what I can see. And then the Holy Spirit reminds me. "Hope. There is more to it than you see, Rebecca. Trust my promise that I will make all things right. Trust me to handle it. Continue on and hope."

If any of you reading are skeptical about this hope, I get it. It's crazy. It really is. When you grow up in the church, it's easy to not realize how insane the Gospel sounds. But if you are skeptical, let me ask you this? What is the point? There has really got to be more than what this world offers. If there is not, why do we even bother trying? Why try to do good and right, when people who are corrupt seem to get what they want? Why try to love, when often there is so much hurt in said relationships? There is something inside us, deep inside that hopes for something more. I hope that you find the real Hope.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. Rev 21:4

For the rest of this post, I'll leave you with pictures from our week.