Rising above Despair: How Easter Empowers You to Embrace Hope

Amid this election year, a common question reverberates: "How do we mend what's broken?" It's not just a societal inquiry; it's a deeply personal struggle too. We grapple with tangible pain, profound loss, trauma and heartbreak. Relationships fracture, children struggle, marriages flame out, our past demons linger on, old addictions die hard. 

Two very real dangers lie waiting for us here within our pain ready to take hold of our hearts. The first is cynicism. When we don't see life getting any better we break up with life before it can break up with us. We stop trying. We stop caring. We try to protect ourselves from the pain of another broken dream. We shield ourselves, retreating from life's potential hurt by disconnecting from hope and closing ourselves off from genuine human connections. We become afraid of hopeful feelings, so we don't feel them. Sometimes we don't let others around us feel them either - which is dispairing for them.

When we don't see life getting any better we break up with life before it can break up with us. We stop trying. We stop caring.

The other danger is toxic positivity. Sometimes to avoid the reality around us, we become blissfully ignorant. We paint over cracks with false smiles, pretending all is well when it's not, fearing the weight of acknowledging our struggles and limitations. Sometimes we even use our spirituality as a shield against negativity. We tell ourselves we are "too blessed to be stressed". We are afraid to admit that God's promises to "work all things for the good of those who love Him" have lost a bit of their edge to us. We can't hold any more negative emotions, so we force ourselves to engage only with the "positive" ones. Sometimes we force the people around us to only engage with the "positive" ones too - which is crushing for them.

We are afraid to admit that God's promises to "work all things for the good of those who love Him" have lost a bit of their edge to us.

But in 1 Corinthians 15:30-34, Paul shows us how Easter protects us from both of these dangers while keeping our hearts hopeful. Paul himself is struggling. The Corinthian church in which he has invested so much of his heart is unraveling quickly. Essentially he is failing professionally. He has endured slander, loss, betrayal, and financial stress. He compares his suffering to dying daily. It's as if he is losing a part of himself. Paul even seems to struggle with the futility of the path that he is on (1 Cor 4:10-13). He quotes an old saying from Isaiah when he asks whether or not all this suffering is truly worth it, "Why not just eat and drink? For tomorrow we die! (1 Cor 15:32; Is 22:13)" The danger of blissful ignorance seems to be fresh on his mind in the midst of his weariness. Somehow in all of it though, Paul's soul stays anchored. The secret is that he faces all of this, not with "human hope", but with something greater. That something greater is the resurrection of Jesus. 

The resurrection of Jesus protects us from true hopelessness. It protects us from mere "human hope". The early church was fond of saying that Jesus became like us so that we could become like Him. This means that our fates and Jesus' fate are now irreversibly joined together. Perhaps this is why the number one phrase in your New Testament used to describe our relationship with Jesus is "in Christ". In resurrection, Jesus reversed death. And when Jesus overcame death, he overcame everything that holds you in cruel bondage. Every addiction. Every fear. Every insecurity. Every trauma. Every loss. Because you are in Christ, your circumstances can no more defeat you than death could defeat Jesus. 

The early church was fond of saying that Jesus became like us so that we could become like Him. This means that our fates and Jesus' fate are now irreversibly joined together.

The resurrection of Jesus doesn't always supply us with the reason for the pain that we endure, but it does reassure us that God was willing to empty Himself in order to rescue us from it. In basketball, there is a longstanding debate about who the greatest player of all time is - Michael Jordan or LeBron James. But do you know why the debate will never be settled? Because the two of them are a generation apart and will never play each other. We'll never know who is the greatest because they will never go head-to-head in a championship series. We can only speculate and wonder. But with Jesus, we don't have to speculate or wonder if He can truly overcome what we are facing. He has already overcome the thing that has crushed us the most - death. He has faced off against our greatest enemy. Our cruelest master. And He won. If He can reverse the thing that has had the strongest hold over you, He can surely deliver you from everything else. This is the power of resurrection. It is the promise.

But with Jesus, we don't have to speculate or wonder if He can truly overcome what we are facing. He has already overcome the thing that has crushed us the most - death. He has faced off against our greatest enemy. Our cruelest master. And He won. If He can reverse the thing that has had the strongest hold over you, He can surely deliver you from everything else.

No loss is permanent. No person is ever truly gone forever. No heartbreak is final. You will get back every part of yourself you thought was gone for good. No defeat is permanent. This is the hope of Easter. You don't have to be afraid anymore. You don't have to protect yourself through cynicism or toxic positivity. Rather, you can be free to trust God again. You can be free to hope again, like Paul does, even through the worst of despair without losing your soul. 

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1 Corinthians 15:30-33
And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? I face death every day—yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised,

“Let us eat and drink,
    for tomorrow we die.”

Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame.