On this Good Friday, I join Christians around the world in remembering Christ’s journey to the cross. In the time leading up to the crucifixion, we read in Matthew 26:39 that Jesus says, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.” That request is made from Jesus’s humanity and is something I can identify with–remembering times in life when I didn’t want to go through the challenge in my path. I don’t know how much Jesus paused after saying this because the verse continues, “Yet not as I will, but as you will.” That is where he surrenders to the Father’s plan, the perspective of the Big Picture of how he came to redeem humanity. That’s how I understand it as a Believer.

It’s hard to watch portrayals in movies of the brutal way that justice was administered in the ancient world. I can’t imagine knowing ahead of time that I would be going through the pain and suffering of crucifixion. Sometimes we want to know what’s ahead, we don’t like not being in control of the future; but sometimes, it’s a gift to not know what is ahead. I think of the way we suffer in our modern times. We all have experiences of going through darkness. That may include our own serious illness, the inability to help someone tied to addictions, or the worst thing imaginable, the loss of a child. At those times we’re wanting the “cup to pass from us” and often search for the “Why is this happening?” but come up short for an answer.

After the crucifixion, the Bible says the world went dark and then on the third day Jesus arose–that is the basis of the Christian faith. We have a Savior who overcame darkness and death to give us life. There was no going around the darkness and death, only going through. The sadness of Good Friday is in sharp contrast to the Easter lily beauty of that morning when we celebrate an empty tomb.

Often we see emblems of butterflies to represent new life, a re-creation. I love to watch the time lapse photography of the stages of a butterfly’s development. From the tiny egg sticking to a leaf that becomes a caterpillar and then transforms to a chrysalis to emerging as an adult butterfly, the process is considered a “complete metamorphosis.” The most mysterious part where the “magic” happens is in the dark confines of the chrysalis. A monarch spends 10 -14 days in that phase of development.

I think of dark times in my life when I felt I was being formed inside a chrysalis–not of my own choosing. I struggled with the unknown of what was happening, why was I having to go through that change. It was a time of walking by faith because I wasn’t sure of the ground beneath my feet. Eventually after that needed time of growing, I emerged as a different person. Like the butterfly who finally is able to fly away, I could see the beautiful colors that formed in that nurturing cocoon.

On this Easter weekend, in this early April beauty, I hope you find light for any darkness that’s been in your life. Sometimes things have to die in us before we can build something new and beautiful.

I wish for you every good thing.

Connie