Rejoicing

It was a delicate operation- one false move and the trapped victim would fall into the jaws of the giant fan to certain, excruciating death. The jaws of life gently wrapped themselves around the injured body and slowly, slowly lifted it from its precarious perch. The crowd watched tensely, afraid to breathe. Inch by inch, the unconscious victim was lifted and maneuvered from the grate 30 feet in the air. There was a sudden shudder, and we all gasped. The victim was shaking itself- would it lose the tenuous hold with the jaw of life and plummet forever out of reach? No! Praise God- the model helicopter's rotors began to spin when freed of the grate, and flew unharmed into its savior's arms. A tail fin was broken off, but the copter was otherwise unscathed from its night spent atop the giant fan where it had inextricably lodged during its maiden flight. We all cheered.

We came home victorious, helicopter safely in hand. What had looked like certain loss, impossible retrieval, and destruction had instead become a back slapping and wondrous moment of rejoicing. It had not been hopeless, though it had certainly appeared that way.

The disciples of Jesus, the original Apostles would know what I was talking about. For three days, they hid in an upper room, their world turned upside down. Jesus had seemed to be the real thing, the long awaited Messiah who would rescue Israel from her enemies and people from themselves. But where was He now? Buried in a cave, meeting the same ignominious fate of all mankind. And you know what they were all gathered in the room saying: (note- the Bible doesn't record this, but I am a highly trained amateur writer and I am sure it could have gone down like this)
Thomas: I told you so. I had my doubts all along but would anyone listen- NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Peter: Oh shut your trap! So we hoped for something that didn't quite pan out. So sue me. I would gladly die for those few moments of hope!
(rooster crows in the background)
Peter- Well, not die necessarily, but I would certainly express appreciation with cheering and dancing.
(rooster crows second time)
Peter: Well not necessarily cheering and dancing, but I would send a postcard thanking Him for His timely message.
(rooster crows a third time)
Peter: Jesus who? How could we have been so deceived!!!!
John: At least we have His words. The Word is Life.
Mark: John can you for one moment lay off the poetic speech? Your last name is not Lennon.

And so on and so forth. Squabbling, crying, blaming, and despairing. All their hopes and dreams crushed with resounding finality. Dead and buried. Hope was impossible now.

And then a knock on the door changed everything. They opened the door and after slamming it in His face, finally realized that the darkness was not quite as complete as they had envisioned. There He stood before them, stretching out His nail scarred hands for them to touch. All was not lost. Death had not won! Destruction did not have the final word. Hope was alive!

It may feel impossible. It may look like the worst that could happen has happened. And life really does throw some nasty iceballs right at our face sometimes. But the giant Jaws of Life are always near, always reaching to save us, always ready to lift us out of the morass of despair to something we cannot begin to know exists til we are flying there.

"Next time," said Asherel holding the copter, "We'll put a pin on the top so it doesn't get stuck on the ceiling."
"Yes, good idea," I agreed, "But it is ok now, because we know how to rescue it."

1 Thessalonians 4:12-14

¹³ Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. ¹⁴ For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.