I am deeply missing a dear friend today who passed away last month and I am heartbroken for all who love her so much. I am thinking about what a tender gift it was from the Lord to take her home on Purim and to be able to celebrate her on Passover and Palm Sunday this Sunday. God writes the best stories.

The Bible’s Honest View of Suffering

I recently saw a clip of Tim Keller explaining how there’s nothing saccharine or Pollyanna in the Bible’s view of suffering. And it struck me again how grateful I am for that.

God’s Word is truly our firm foundation (Mt 7) and the lamp for our feet and light for our path (Ps 119:105).

Joseph’s life, the heart-wrenching Psalms, the tear-filled book of Lamentations… they all testify to how raw and heartbreaking life on earth will be at times. And yet how God will meet us there.

Words That Meet Us in the Dark

We aren’t handed a book of cliches to help us pretend all is well when it’s not. Instead, we’ve been given Words from God Himself that He knew we would need. Honest, piercing, powerful, comforting. Words that allow us to express the deep pain that sin has caused—anchoring us in the Holy Spirit who is right there with us ministering to us as we read—and filling us with hope for eternity!

Passover and the Plan From the Beginning

From before time began, He had a plan: to make a people for Himself with the free will to receive & reciprocate His love, to allow evil caused by that free will, and then to make a way to destroy evil without destroying us.

And Passover foreshadowed this very truth. That first Passover was not a cozy, easy night. It was a night of trembling, fear, waiting, mourning, and devastation. But God entered into the darkness to deliver His people.

The Lamb Who Was Slain

And every year since—Passover has pointed us to the Lamb of God who, on a set year on earth, on Passover (!!!)—was crucified in our place and suffered for us because of His great love.

Jesus, our perfect Passover Lamb, entered into the ultimate suffering so we could be covered—not by the blood of a lamb, but by His own blood. So now, when our lives feel like long nights or wilderness places, we can remember: we’re covered. Seen. Held. Loved.

And the best is yet to come…

Held in the Darkness

We do not have to deny the reality of the darkness here. We can face it honestly and directly. We can weep like Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus. Because we don’t have just lifeless words to follow—we have The Word Himself! God who lives in us, walks with us, goes before us, stands behind us. He sympathizes perfectly.

He WILL use it all for our good—but He does so without ever minimizing how evil—evil truly is, or the devastation that freedom has allowed in this broken world. When God promises to use all things for our good, that doesn’t mean they will feel good, or that they are good. It will be hard. But it will be redeemed. And in the meantime, it will be used to shape us to be more like Him.

Hosanna Even in Sorrow

So even in the dark, we can choose to praise!

Palm Sunday—the day the King rode into the city. Not on a warhorse (yet) but on a donkey. Not to conquer by force but to lay down His life. Hosanna! He came to save!

So today even in sorrow—we can cry Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain.

The Lion Will Return

Someday, death will be no more.
And the Lion will come back to make things right.
Until He returns, we worship the Lamb and trust Him to help us endure all the way home…
weeping, mourning, grieving (Passover)…
dancing, rejoicing, singing (Palm Sunday)…

All the way home.