Life Lesson #144 ~ Three Days

"A lot can happen in three days."   ~ Anonymous

I think of this saying a lot when I evaluate my life. I mean, from day to day a lot happens doesn't it? One day you're living happily, cancer free and the next, you're fighting for your life with a cancer diagnosis nipping at your heels. Life happens that fast and change comes in the blink of an eye. A key note from 'Fallen' explains it this way, "There are moments which mark your life. Moments when you realize nothing will ever be the same and time is divided into two parts ~ before this, and after this.  I don't know about you but I have many divided parts of my life. We all do. From wonderful moments such as saying I do, becoming a parent, graduating or getting the news you're cancer free to darker, more troublesome moments as we let go of toxic relationships, lose a job or sit down for our first of many chemo treatments. What I've learned through the years, is something Curiano Quotes Life resounds beautifully, "Some of the best life lessons were learned at the worst times."

I'm a woman of faith, I have never hidden this fact and I never will. I've not pushed my beliefs on anyone, but neither will I hide my relationship with Jesus Christ. He is my reason for hope. He has given me strength even when I've been at my weakest. He's never failed me, even when I've failed Him. And thinking of the third day, I'm sure as Jesus hung from the cross He had plenty of time to think about how much his life had changed in just three days. Still He stayed the course. Jesus, He was our offering. He gave His life for ours and He taught us by His own example, "Time doesn't heal all wounds, God does." How many times do we say a lot can happen in a year, a month or a week? But how many times as believers do we think about how things actually changed for us in those 3 days between the death of Christ and His resurrection? The truth is, a lot changed. Reading of how He died, understanding the cruelty of crucifixion we learn about a truth many times forgotten, "No one heals themselves by wounding another." He most certainly could have broken His own chains, brought down the armies of Heaven, striking His tormentors down, but He didn't, He broke our chains instead. Jesus chose to love us unconditionally, painful in the moment as it was. In His death those of us who believe He is our Savior are able to realize our freedom is found in His blood, in the laying down of His life. If not for His grace, we would come undone, dying from our own demise. If not for His sacrifice, we would not have the peace within we know today. See in those final moments on the cross Jesus taught us how to love, how to forgive and in His resurrection three days later He taught us how to live and how to rise from the ashes.

What I've come to understand through the testing of my faith, in the moments of heartache and of triumph is a simple truth,"Sometimes painful things can teach us lessons that we didn't think we needed to know." (Goodlifequotes) My life, it's not a picture perfect tapestry. It's more like a patch work of failures and victories. My story, is nothing more than a book full of revisions, edits, change and before and after. Three days can change so much, and I'm OK with that. John 13:7 tells me, "You don't understand now what I am doing but someday you will." And that is assurance enough for me. I don't get the whys many times. I get upset, and I may even get angry but I know my life is more than what I see. Everything broken in me, has been mended, by the Master Potter's hands. No matter what I go through, what is said about me, thought of me, I know who I am in Christ. I may want to go to war, put my battle armor on, take up my sword  because I have been wounded but "sometimes  I need to focus on the battle God wants to win in me more than the battle I want Him to win for me."  And that's the lesson I personally take away from the battle fought for our souls on the cross,  over two thousand years ago.

My hope is not in myself, or anyone else for that matter. My hope is solely in Jesus Christ and what He not only did for me but all He overcame for me in those three days. This is the thing when I see pain, He sees growth. When I see uncertainty, He sees possibilities beyond my imagination. When I feel disregarded or wounded, He is my refuge, my healing grace. Jesus taught us all something while hanging on that cross, and that's His love is greater than anything the devil can devise to besiege us with. What I see when I look to the cross, is love in it's purest form. Jesus surrendered yes but only to the will of His Father, not the enemy. This is what we need to understand: When life hands you lemons, when life gets complicated and folks repeatedly attack you, your character and your faith, remember what it is they're truly rattled by...His light within you. As Michael J. Fox is quoted as saying, "One's dignity may be assaulted, vandalized and cruelly mocked but it can NEVER be taken away unless it is surrendered." This is what we have to remember when we're attacked by people, by illness or simply the ups and downs of this life,  take nothing personally, Jesus didn't. Instead He offered forgiveness.

This is the real life lesson we need to take away, though we fail at it miserably sometimes, "Life is passing and we never know when it ends, therefore, we must take care of it so when the owner takes away the life we borrowed, we will never be ashamed to give it back." And this is exactly how I see Life Lesson #144 ~ Three Days. So much can happen in three days, life, death and everything else in between, so what are you going to do with the days given to you? I am but a sinner, saved by grace, loved unconditionally and given a beautiful life in spite of all the pain, suffering and difficulties. You see I believe Jesus can do the same in my life, and in yours  as is spoken of in 1 Corinthians 15:4, "He was buried and He was raised to life three days later." All it takes is three days...three days to rise from the ashes to life again. You just have to accept, "There isn't enough room in your mind for both worry and faith. You just need to decide which one will live there." ` Anonymous

~Christina