from Pleasant Grove Baptist Church http://bit.ly/2GxkNHK
via IFTTT Good Friday? No, Jesus was not crucified on a Friday, but something fabulous did happen on this day! Something we can take comfort in today. The fact of crucification on Wednesday was covered a couple days ago, today we want to take a look at what DID happen on Good Friday. This is the day that the committed women bought and prepared the spices and herbs to anoint Jesus' body in the tomb. The very fact that the women did this shows great courage and commitment. There was no angel calling them to do this. No law. No requirement at all except their own hearts. They had spent the last few years ministering to and honoring Jesus. They were not about to stop because the nation had turned against Him! They were not about to stop because He was now dead. Their love and comittment drove them on to do what they could, to honor Jesus further any way they knew. So they spent this day preparing to anoint His precious body one more time. An act of selfless love. And you know what amazing? No one stopped them, not even an angel! There was no reason for them to do this, it was a pointless act because Jesus would rise before they ever delivered their package of love. The angles knew this. God knew this, and yet they were not stopped until.... They arrived at the tomb. Then the angels informed them. Why not appear to them on Friday, before they wasted a day on this? Sometimes in life, God allows us to continue down the wrong path for the right reason, so that we might end up at the right place at the right time for an even greater blessing than we can fathom. These women were mightily blessed , beyond comprehension for their day. They were single handedly the first witnesses of the empty tomb! They were given the task of telling the world for the first time, "He is risen". Spending their money on spices, spending their day Friday preparing them, and heading to the tomb at the earliest possible moment was rewarded with being the first in the world to utter "He is risen". Wow! In our lives, this happens also. Sometimes God lets us continue our work, expecting a certain outcome. Yet we discover that the outcome we expect is not God's plan, something much greater is! Why doesn't He tell us and change our work, our expectation? I think there are two reasons. 1. It doesn't matter. God is so powerful that He can use any situation for His outcome. It doesn't matter what or why we do things, He can turn them into a step of His plan. 2. If we knew the truth of where we were headed, we might either not go, or race ahead and miss it. So God often lets us continue moving forward, sometimes doing pointless things that we think are critical, so that we will end up in the right place at the right time to be blessed beyond our dreams. What is the lesson here? Relax! Things do not matter nearly to the extent that we think they do! Peace is found when we realize that situations mean nothing. God can turn anything and everything around, because it is all His plan anyway! He put the desire in the hearts of these women to minister to Jesus. They just kept going, and God honored that and blessed them in fabulous ways. So take heart, what you do today may well end up being useless, pointless, complete waste of time. But God is still guiding your path, setting your step in the direction He needs, to bless you beyond your comprehension. Trust Him! Find peace is His strength. Were these women disappointed that they didn't get to use their spices? That they had wasted their hard earned money and time on that ministry that didn't even happen? Of course not! They were overjoyed to discover the truth, they got to proclaim "He is risen!". There is no regret in that, no disappointment. There is joy overshadowing everything that led to that moment. Relax! Take heart! Regardless of what you find yourself working on today, God is working on your blessings.
