the Friday that is oh so good.

Hi lovelies! I hope you are well on this Good Friday! I am so excited that it is almost Easter. I think I get so excited for Easter that sometimes I forget to reflect on the days leading up to Easter and the significance of them.

Today we meditate on the death of Christ on the cross. Some people call it the day celebrating the passion of Christ. And I could not have said it any better myself. That is exactly what it is: Christ's love. His Passion. His Agape.

In the hours leading up to Christ's crucifixion, He spent a lot of hours in prayer and conversation with His Father. Many of the days and hours leading up to his death were spent in the garden of Gethsemane. This is a garden that Jesus frequented with His disciples. He would often go there to pray. Something that stands out most to me are the words that Jesus pleaded to God in the hours leading to His death. Twice Jesus asked His Father to remove the cup of wrath He was about to drink. Let's not forget that Jesus was fully human and fully God. 100% both. A miraculous mystery that we will never fully be able to understand. Jesus was facing a battle. He was about to suffer the most painful death that a person could ever experience. He would have to bear our guilt and the sins of the whole world. Wouldn't you be a little scared too? When Jesus faced His most difficult decision, he prayed earnestly and persisted in following God's will for his life. He knew that God had greater plans. He knew that He was going to redeem God's children. He trusted that God would be faithful to His promises. He was willing to do whatever God needed him to do, even to die on the cross for our sins.

I think we can learn so much from this. We can learn so much from every one of Jesus' teachings. But this one is essential: submitting to God and setting aside our will and allowing it to be replaced with His. When we are facing troubles it is so important to run to God. God is the author and the perfecter of our faith. He knows what is going to happen. He planned every second of our lives out. He is the Ultimate guide. When we are facing difficult decisions and trying circumstances, it is so important that we pray. That is exactly what Jesus did. When everyone around Him was out to get Him, when His death was only hours away, he ran to God. He even pleaded with God that the cup be taken away from Him... but even when He didn't get the easier answer, He still obeyed and submitted to the will of God. He trusted that God knew what was best in the long run. He trusted.

How many times do we actually trust God with things. Especially the hard stuff. When a parent gets cancer. When a teenage brother dies in a car accident, when a friend commits suicide. Do we trust in God's will for those situations? Do we acknowledge that God is even still there in those situations? Or do we turn our backs on God, letting our emotions rule us. God sent His son to this earth on a mission. His mission was to ultimately die on the cross as a way of forgiving us for all of our sins. God had a plan. He has a plan for each and everyone's lives. He knows whats going on in your heart. He knows what will happen to you tomorrow. He knows everything. Trust in that. Trust in the God who is so much bigger than this earth, than this universe, bigger than anything. He is bigger than your heartache. He is bigger than your loss. He is bigger than your fear. He is bigger than your abuse. He is bigger.

Run to Him. Plead with Him. Listen to Him. Trust Him.


Love you all!

-Em