And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.
Matthew 20:17-19 (ESV)
These are probably my favorite verses; I really love them. Why? Because they tell me this:
There’s going to be bad things happening in your life–storms, trials, a walk through the valley of death.
You’re going to be scared, hurt, confused, shaken by the doubts and lies screaming in your ears.
It’s going to get dark and hard, and you may never understand why.
Your heart will be broken, dreams will be shattered, relationships will be severed.
You’ll feel alone, abandoned.
You’ll cry out to God and won’t seem to get a reply.
You might lose hope, feel like nothing will ever be right again, think that you’ll always be stuck here in this dark place.
BUT.
It’s not the end. Better times are coming.
The sun will rise again and you’ll hear the voice of your Father singing over you.
What was broken will be mended.
You’ll learn to laugh again, to love, to live.
Beauty will rise from the ashes; a wondrous story of grace, power, and healing will be told by your scars.
You’ll break out of the cocoon of darkness that bound you and unfurl your brand-new wings to fly.
You’ll once again know hope, joy, peace.
Everything will be okay.
Because of Jesus. Because of what He went through. Because of His death and resurrection.
These verses are a promise of better days.
