God is Always Writing a Bigger Story - Hope for Good Friday and Beyond

I’ll confess. I didn’t understand Good Friday growing up. I grew up in a tradition that didn’t really observe it. We skipped straight over it for Easter morning, celebrations. As a child, that worked pretty well. Bring on the Easter egg hunts and the chocolate bunnies!

But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to appreciate and even need Good Friday, for the things it says without saying anything at all. Good Friday, and the days that followed before the resurrection, was marked by profound stillness. There were no more bustling crowds, crowding in to ask just one more miracle of Jesus.

“Good Friday...was marked by profound stillness”

To the disciples, it must have felt like the biggest let down of all time…

I’ve felt that deeply. And it’s strangely comforting to know that even this is part of the story as a Christ follower. But even in the darkest, most silent moments, we know that God is always writing a bigger story!

Last week my husband and I had the joy of being in Washington DC for a conference, and it just so happened to coincide with the peak blooming of the cherry blossoms. We planned to go to this conference over a year ago, without a single thought of cherry blossoms. But in the absolute kindness of God he arranged for those trees to be blooming while we were there.

Those gorgeous blooms were the most beautiful reminder that every season eventually changes, and there’s a storyline that God is writing that’s honestly beyond our ability to fully grasp.

God is in the details of every story—especially the Easter story. Each year, as we observe, mourn, celebrate, he reminds us that he’s always writing a bigger story. This is what I’m holding on to this Easter season.