Cheryl Dale – Climbing Out of the Valley

Trying to recover from brain surgery over Easter weekend was a new adventure. I seriously do not remember an Easter Sunday I was not dressed, blessed and in church singing hallelujah choruses and rejoicing. But that’s not to say God did not show up to give me something new and profound.

I love the scriptures that promise His presence. Two of my favorites:  Psalm 139:7 “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?”  and Deut 31:6 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.” 

He has been with me these past few weeks of anxiously waiting for surgery. He was with me in the pre-surgery room for almost 12 hours because of the delayed surgery time. He entered the operating room before I did. He was beside my recovery bed while I suffered from extreme nausea and vomiting. He has not left me for a moment and He never will.

What dawned on me Easter morning as I read scriptures about His resurrection was this– there is one location He is not and never will be again.  The Tomb!

The biggest empty of all time happened resurrection morning! From the moment His Father called Him to rise, the ever-present Spirit of God has never graced that space again. No physical presence. No scent of Him. No sound of Him. No tiny cell or flake of skin!

Rest assured there is no place our Savior will not accompany us – except to the empty tomb. There is no darkness He will not walk us through – except the darkness of the empty tomb. There is no corner He will not illuminate for us – except the corners of the empty tomb.

While remembering the sacrifice on the cross, the burial and the rolled stone are critical to our faith, I never realized before this week that remembering the absence of His presence in this one and only location is key.

His life saving effort on Sunday morning was one and done! Never needing to be repeated. And it tells us three things:

• Stop going back to the dark places God has rescued us from. There is nothing there for us.
• If we don’t choose the Resurrected Redeemer, we choose the greatest emptiness to ever be recorded.
• Let’s not keep pining to visit the place His Spirit isn’t – the location of the tomb. Let’s focus on visiting the places where His Spirit needs to be – the homeless camps, the hospitals, the streets, the schools, the neighbors, the family dinner table. 

“He is not here; for He is risen …” Matthew 28:6.