A Meditation for our Fifth Week of Lent in 2026

Each one of our lives will weave its way through joys and sorrows. I will find myself ushered into celebrations just as surely as I will be brought low in grief. Both of these experiences, emotions, and moments are holy. They are holy for the simple reason that God is with me. Yet, this is where I meet a temptation that I have struggled with in different ways for decades. I am tempted to believe that God only wants my joyful praise. That makes me feel like God simply endures my loss, sorrow, and grief so that I can be restored to joyful praise.

The story of the death and resurrection of Lazarus shows me God in the midst of my agony. Much like the Lord speaking to Ezekiel (in Chapter 37) in the valley of dry bones, here we see that Jesus knew the breath of life would return to Lazarus’s body. That restoration, life, and joy are actively on their way. Jesus went from telling his disciples that his friend was merely sleeping to entering into the emotional world of Mary, Martha, and all those who were weeping. He felt their broken hearts and spirits, and His empathy broke His heart and spirit. He began to weep with them while being the very source of life that, in moments, would bring them immense joy. He wept.

I am trapped in a world that is not right. Every day I pray for God’s will to be done on earth as in heaven and for His kingdom to come down to earth – just like the Son came from heaven to earth. I hope. I believe somehow this is happening. That the Kingdom of God every so often pierces through the veil between my reality and the eternal word that is Christ. Maybe through forgiveness, mercy, kindness, and love.

Yet still, my body is broken, my friends and family are sick, and our world feels like it is moving towards catastrophe. In contrast to that temptation I often feel, here is what I know. The Kingdom is coming. Easter is real. And, in this moment, Jesus will sit with me in grief as the winds of this life cause my hope to flicker. A life given to me through His death. For this is eternal life, that I know the Father, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent.

May Your grace, Lord our God, envelop us within Your love.