Life comes out of death - this principle is at the very heart of the Christian faith. Indeed, this truth is seen throughout all of God's creation.

A tree dies and slowly returns to the soil from which it came, providing rich nutrients for new life to spring forth in the forest.

In the state of Washington, Mount St. Helens explodes with violent fury, leaving miles of blown-down trees and ash- covered earth. For the next year there are no signs of life. But wait - wildflowers are poking their way up through the dense ash. We see the tiny stirrings of a new ecology on this once-dead mountain.

A Canada goose stands between her young and any assailant, ready to give her life without hesitation in the ancient act of maternal protection.

If we have eyes to see and ears to hear, all of creation is proclaiming the truth of resurrection life.
The clear epitome of this death-into-life principle is found in Jesus. In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus said, "The Son of Man [a Messianic title] will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, and will deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up" (20:18-19). In these verses we see Jesus aware of the cross awaiting Him. More than that, though, these words reveal that Jesus' eyes were set not upon His impending suffering, but upon the inevitable resurrection that would follow, proclaiming His victory over sin and death.

Simply and paradoxically, death is a stage all things pass through in order to reach resurrection life.
We experience one kind of resurrection when we initially come to Christ, receiving Him into our lives. We are raised or born again (John 3:3) in our spirits when we open our hearts to Him. And because of Jesus, we have the sure promise of eternal life. When the day comes that we breathe our last, we will be ushered into the presence of God with purified minds and resurrection bodies (1 Cor. 15:42-22).

But until that blessed day arrives, life will continue to unfold itself in a series of death-into-life experiences. The tragedy for so many is that they won't look for the resurrection; thus they remain stuck in a death fixation. Maybe they've had it drummed into their heads for so long that they're no good, not lovable, hung up, messed up, and mixed up that they can't conceive of good coming out of bad things for them. For many of us, by the time we come to Christ, we've already had so much negative input thrown at us that it can seem impossible to believe anything good can happen, so we just naturally gravitate toward seeing the worst in everything. And there certainly isn't anything worse than death, is there?

Jesus could not give us His own life until He experienced His own death. He willingly became a seed that, falling into the ground, sprouted back to life for Himself and for all who would come to Him.

This same pattern works itself out repeatedly in our own lives. We may gladly quote with Paul the triumphant words, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Gal. 2:20). It's as if we wipe our foreheads and say, "Whew, am I glad that's over with!" We like the idea of being identified with Christ's death because we want to believe that He did all the suffering for us so we won't have to suffer at all. But Paul also said, "I do my share...in filling up that which is lacking in Christ's afflictions" (Col. 1:24). He even went so far as to say, "I die daily" (1 Cor. 15:31). Now wait just a minute, Paul! We want all mention of suffering to be in the past tense, thank you. Don't give us any of this "I die daily" stuff.

Have you ever looked at the paradox of accepting by faith your crucifixion with Christ as an event in the past, while at the same time recognizing a very real, ongoing crucifixion in your present life? The church seems, by and large, to have done a pretty poor job of reconciling these truths with each other. The result of this inability to see both sides of the coin of suffering ("we have died" / "we are dying") is witnessed every day in the lives of thousands of believers who are bowed down with guilt and condemnation. They are convinced that if only their faith were strong enough, they would be able to rebuke all trials and tribulations. Because they can't confess their way out of their suffering, they are convinced they've let God down. The truth is that God may be performing His most beautiful and loving work in their lives through their trials, but they can't see it. Because they believe all suffering is in the past (the "we have died" side of the coin), they look upon all misfortune (the "we are dying" side of the coin) as being of the devil. And if you conclude something is of the devil, you most likely are not going to look for any revelation of resurrection life within it.

In John's Gospel, Jesus said, "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (16:33 KJV). In these words Jesus clearly stated that we are bound to encounter trials and difficulties in this life, not in spite of our belief in God, but because we believe in Him. If we would only be willing to learn the value of waiting, our suffering could be lessened and, in some cases, eradicated.

We are of God, but we do still live in this world. As long as we remain on this planet, we can expect to experience tribulations. But as Jesus said, we should also expect to be of good cheer in them.

Why? Because Christ has overcome the world. His light has overcome the darkness. By choosing to place our faith in Him, we are choosing to see above and beyond our immeditate circumstances. Believing Him means believing He is with us and in us at all times, working His character and presence into our lives through all our experiences. In this light all things must work together for good because He is there.

Not only has Jesus overcome the world, but as His children, He has incorporated us into His victory. "And who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" (1 John 5:5).

This verse is God telling us in advance of our ultimate victorious outcome in this life - not because of us, but because of Him. Here indeed is something worth being of good cheer about. I believe it's essential to acknowledge tribulations as a real presence and an integral part of our lives; however, let's be careful concerning how we accept this truth. The temptation to fall into self-pity is very strong when everything seems to be against us. The "martyr" mentality ("oh well, I guess God just wants me to suffer; nothing good ever happens to me") is self-destructive. It keeps us stuck in our problems while blocking out the light of God altogther. In the martyr mentality you are resigned to suffering, but you aren't accepting of it. You don't learn from it, you don't grow through it, you don't see above it, and you certainly are not of "good cheer” in it. You simply feel sorry for yourself and want God to feel sorry for you too. Acceptance is saying a humble yes to God and waiting for His timing to work all things together for good (Rom. 8:28). Resignation is acceptance without hope.

It is healthy to accept the reality of tribulations, but it is imperative that we see them within the context of God's love. The part faith plays is to keep our eyes not on our tribulations, but on Him. If we are willing to believe all of John 16:33 (including the "be of good cheer" part), then we will actively desire to see our difficulties from God's viewpoint. Instead of the old "Woe is me" feeling, we will now say "All things work together for good."

It has definitely been in my darkest moments that I have seen the light of God's love and power shine the brightest. I have come to believe that His light shines all the time. The question is not, "Does God care about me?" The real question is, "Am I willing to believe He cares about me?" Am I willing to wait for His timing? Jesus has done His part. He has given me all I need, but am I willing to actively receive His love instead of remaining stuck in self-pity? Am I willing to recognize God's purpose, ministry, and light in me in the midst of my sufferings? Each day, moment by moment, we are given the choice to look either to our God or to our affliction.

Perhaps all of us have experienced moments of despair when we felt that we couldn't endure one more setback or difficulty. In times like these, it's helpful to contemplate the sufferings of Christ for one of the primary reasons Jesus willingly accepted His own suffering was so He could be sympathetic and merciful to us in our times of suffering. "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are...Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need" (Heb. 4:15-16). If we would only open our hearts to God instead of feeling like a failure before Him, we would realize He is the One who desires to help and love us through to the other side.

Have you had times when you've wanted to throw in the towel? Have you felt like giving up on Christianity? Maybe you've seen everyone around you rejoicing in their miracles while you wonder why nothing's happening to you. You know you love the Lord just as much as others do, yet you're coming up dry while others are having their faces blessed off. Life seems to flow everywhere else, but your desert just gets hotter and hotter. At a time like this it may be pretty easy to give up.

The paradox is, it's often not until we reach this point of hitting the proverbial bottom of the barrel that we finally break through the confining restrictions of our circumstances into the glorious awareness of our higher life in Christ. When we're willing to see God in our cross, that's when we begin taking the first baby steps of resurrection life.

In the words of an anonymous poem I came across a few years ago, I find the wisdom of God. If we are willing to let these verses become reality, we will soon begin seeing all things in the light of His goodness and graciousness.

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve...
I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey.

I asked for health, that I might do greater things...
I was given infirmity, that I might to better things.

I asked for riches, that I might be happy...
I was given poverty, that I might be wise.

I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men...
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life...
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I asked for, but everything I had hoped for.
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.
I am among all men most richly blessed.

How about you? Are you ready to accept the challenge of allowing your trials to teach you the way of transcendent life in Christ?

Life comes out of death - this principle is at the very heart of the Christian faith.