But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised, just as he said. Come and see the place where he was lying. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead. He is going ahead of you into Galilee. You will see him there.’ Listen, I have told you!” Matthew 28:5-7
New English Translation
Usually, when we talk about Easter, we rejoice that Jesus raised to life again and leave the story there. However, the good news doesn’t end there. Jesus came out of the grave. He could have just raised to life and stayed in the grave, but He didn’t. He went out and others saw the resurrection power!
So, if Jesus went out from His grave and people saw that He was different (remember, people didn’t recognize Him at first), then why do we so often stay in our grave? What do I mean? Well, a lot of times I find that people decide to believe in Jesus, but then there is nothing different about them. They still are jerks. They still lie habitually. They still wreck people everywhere they go. They still live in addiction. They still breed division. The list can go on forever. All of those things are part of the grave. Why don’t we leave those things?
I think part of the reason has to do with being comfortable. Why would I think this? Well, society has taught us that if something isn’t comfortable we have to fix it yesterday. No matter how small the discomfort, we rush people to the hospital, most times to find out that nothing was wrong in the first place. If we don’t get things in a quick and comfortable time frame, we complain. We’ve been conformed to a world of comfort.
However, James taught that trials are bound to happen, we can’t avoid them and those trials are actually a good thing (James 1). Through trials God is able to break us of habits that hurt us and others, to open our eyes so that we can draw closer to God. Yet, many times we find every way to try and get out of the trial rather than growing from the trial. Oh the things we’ve missed out on because of that!
Many of my most formative life lessons have come through some sort of trial. For example, I learned that God is a healer when I was younger. As a kid, I was diagnosed with a severe heart murmur and informed I wasn’t going to live a normal life. Yet, instead of my family and I avoiding the trial or giving up, we grew through the trial. We decided to pray hard and trust God hard. He healed my heart murmur and I had pretty great childhood. See, in that trial, my family and I learned so many things. We developed a deeper faith and trust and saw God as healer.
What happens when I don’t let God grow me through the trials you might ask? Well, I wallow in self pity, complain about the trial I’ve gone through. Needless to say, I am unpleasant to be around during that time. Boy, am I thankful God gets me out of that and into growing through the trials.
Let me tell you one thing, no matter who you are, when you don’t let God grow you in the trials, you’re a pain in the butt. It’s just the facts of life. In the trial God is trying to help you become refined and walk better with Him, but when you try and fight that because it’s uncomfortable you lean further and further into sin rather than moving closer to God.
Think of it this way: God wants to help you come out of the grave, and when you don’t let Him change your heart and behavior, you choose to hangout in the grave… graves are stinky… they’re dark… they aren’t a good place to be in. No body wants to be around that. And you’re taking that grave with you everywhere you go.
Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus, stayed in his grave. Sure, he saw everything the other disciples saw. He had a leadership position even (he was in charge of the money). Yet, he betrayed Jesus because he wasn’t willing to get up out of his stinky grave and change. He literally walked side-by-side with Jesus yet never got out of his grave. You can attend church, know all the right words, and never leave your grave.
Now is a good time for some soul searching and prayer. Don’t deceive yourself and assume you’re all good (that’s really just seeking the comfortable). Be willing to ask yourself hard questions. Be willing to humbly come before God and apologies for despising His help through trials. There is no time better than right here and now to change. Today, get out of your grave!