A Changed Life

We are now just a few weeks before Easter – Resurrection Sunday! The tomb was, indeed, empty that morning when the woman went to anoint Jesus’ body. Their last sight of him had been his lifeless body hanging on a cross, but now Jesus was alive and everything, and I repeat everything, changed.

These followers of Jesus went from hiding behind locked doors to standing boldly in the streets of Jerusalem proclaiming, “Let all of Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” (Acts 2:36)

Yes, the empty tomb changed a group of rag-tag fishermen, a tax collector, a zealot, and others into evangelists who turned the world upside for Christ. We know their stories too: Peter and John healing the lame man when they went to the Temple to pray (Acts 3:1-10). Philip explaining to the Ethiopian official that the prophet Isaiah was, indeed, talking about Jesus and then baptizing him as a brother in faith before Philip was suddenly transported by the Spirit to a new location (Acts 8:26-40). And we can’t forget Saul meeting Jesus on the road to Damacus and being transformed from a persecutor to the greatest missionary of all time (Acts 9).

Each encounter was a different story. A different person becoming a new creation in Christ. As Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, “The old is gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Yes, the empty tomb changed everything, including me.

You see, I was blessed to have been born into a family of believers, and there is not a time that I can recall of not knowing about God and Jesus. It’s who we were. We were always at church, and those of you who are a little more mature in years like myself, will remember the church envelopes that we had back in the day. I’m pretty sure at my church that each of us had their own set of envelopes, even us kids, and every Sunday morning I would check off the little boxes:

Attend church: Check.

Brought Offering: Check.

Brought Bible:  Check.

That’s what religion seemed like to me. Religion was all about checking boxes and then you were good with God.

But were you?

When I was a senior in high school, I was at a youth event at church with my boyfriend. The speaker that day was talking about missions, and at the conclusion, he did an altar call.  He said if you felt that God was calling you to the mission field, to come forward.

At that moment, I knew without a doubt that God was calling me to the ministry, but I had no idea what that meant. It was the early 1980’s and there were not a lot of woman role models out there in the ministry. Heck, Beth Moore was just trying to figure that out herself.  All I knew was that there was no way I was going to be some kind of “Jesus Freak” as I liked to call those kinds of people, and my knuckles turned white as I gripped the back of the pew in front of me. 

After it was over, my boyfriend turned to me and said, “You wanted to go forward, didn’t you.” This was a telling moment because he did not grow up in a denomination that did things like altar calls, so for him to have recognized the turmoil within me is actually pretty amazing. However, like Peter in the firelight the night of Jesus’ arrest, I looked at him and said, “I have no idea what you are talking about.” And I slammed the door shut on God.

In retrospect, I have come to call this period in my life the “dark night of my soul.” I continued to act like a Christian, but in reality, I shut God out. I was living for me and me alone. The thing is, God does not force himself on you. When you tell him no, he will let you go your own way.

During those years, I remember hearing people talk about prayer and how God had spoken to them, and I was baffled. How could they be so sure God was listening much less answering? If and when I prayed, I felt like my prayers hit the ceiling and went no further.

There was nothing… only silence.

But just because I couldn’t hear or see God didn’t mean he wasn’t at work. There is this powerful verse found in the John’s gospel that I’m sure you are familiar with:

“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand.” (John 10:28-29)

God let me go my own way for a time, but I was still in his hands. Looking back, I see that he protected me from so many things. However, in my folly, I created an idol for myself. I was chasing after my career, and everything else was secondary… even my husband, I’m ashamed to admit. However, God never forgot about me, and when I turned 30 years old, he turned my life upside down.

You see, my dream job of being the Director of Student Activities at a college in South Dakota turned out to be a nightmare. After a year of working 60 hour weeks, I quit and Kenny and I moved back to Texas. Let me just say that when you have based your whole identity on what you do, it’s devastating to lose that and not have any idea what your next step should be. However, that’s exactly where God wanted me.

Kenny found a job here in Waco and for seven months God left me sitting. No job – just me and him - and for the first time in my life, I picked up my Bible and start reading it. I couldn’t put it down and in the pages of Scripture, I found my Savior again. I think this is why of Jesus’ parables the Lost Son (Luke 15) is my favorite, because friends, I too am a prodigal.

God then brought me to my current job. In my mind, I was only going to stay there a year because I viewed it as not suitable to my talents. Yes, pride is still something I still struggle with even to this day; however, God had something else in mind and one year turned into twenty.

Funny enough, during this time I pictured myself as Joseph in prison in Egypt. For some reason, though, I got it in my head that Joseph was in prison for twenty years before Pharoah called him to be second in command only behind him (Genesis 41). I was absolutely convinced that when I hit my twenty-year anniversary at work, God was going to set me free.

I was wrong on all counts. Joseph was only in prison 12 to 13 years, depending on the commentary you look at, and God did not move me from my job.

I admit that I was puzzled. I could not for the life of me figure out what God was doing and why he left me there. However, it wasn’t too much longer before I had my answer. We were doing Beth Moore’s study, Believing God, at our Wednesday night Bible study at church, and she made this statement, “Your promised land is where God has planted you.”

You could have knocked me over with a feather. My job was my promised land, and I suddenly realized that God had me there for a purpose. However, I still didn’t know exactly what that meant, and I wouldn’t for several more years.

While we don’t always know the plan, God certainly does and he used that time to prepare me (Jeremiah 29:11). You see, I would rush home from work and sit at our kitchen table and devour Scripture, commentaries, whatever I could get my hands on… I read it. Slowly, the Holy Spirit began to plant a seed in me that I needed to start a Bible study at work. I had it all figured out in my head. I knew exactly how we could do it, but I wouldn’t pull the trigger. I was afraid. What if they said no, or worse yet, what if people said yes and then I actually had to do it!

It finally came to a head in January of 2017. One Sunday morning during my quiet time, I was whining and complaining to God on why I couldn’t get any of my friends from work to come to our Bible study at church. This other lady was bringing them in by the droves, but I couldn’t get one person. “What the heck, God?”

At that moment, I clearly heard the voice of the Spirit say, “Take it to them.” I didn’t even know that you could audibly hear the voice of God, but come to find out, you can. However, in my typical fashion, I immediately began to bargain with God. I told him that I would do this if he gave me two women. Just two women needed to say yes, and I would finally start the Bible study that I had been thinking about for the past year.

I had picked out two friends to ask. I was so nervous, though, that I didn’t even ask them face to face; I sent an email. I fully expected a polite decline, but they both immediately said yes. I was shocked but also embolden. If they said yes, others might too.

Friends, by the end of the day, 12 women had said yes to studying God’s word with me and nine years later we are still gathering each week in the cafeteria to do just that.

The empty tomb changes everything, but I know what you are thinking, “That’s fine for you, Lisa, but you don’t know what I have done. God could never use someone like me.”

And my response to that is, “Never underestimate God.”

If you haven’t done the math, it was 36 years from when I first ran from God that he gave me a second chance to say yes. But think about it; that’s 36 years of living in the world, acting just like the world, being just like the world. Believe me, there was so much ugly stuff that God has had to cut out of me, and is still cutting out of me, that it’s a wonder it only took 36 years. Like the children of Israel, he had to take me through my own wilderness season as he went about teaching me what it meant to follow him.

But that’s what our loving Father is willing to do. He is the good Shepherd who leaves the 99 to go look for the one lost sheep (Luke 15:3-7). He is the Father who tucks up his rob and runs to meet us when he finally sees us on the road coming home (Luke 15:20). He takes off our filthy robes and replaces it with his own. He puts a ring on our finger, and sandals on our tired feet. He then calls for a feast to celebrate, “For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” (Luke 15:24)

I want to ask you this question: How has the empty tomb has changed you? If you aren’t sure, it’s time to find out. Yes, it takes courage, but you aren’t alone. Your Father is waiting for you.

For the glory of God, our Father!  Lisa

Discussion Questions

How has the empty tomb changed you?

Do you struggle with knowing God’s plan for your life? If so, what are things you can do to hear him more clearly?

How does it make you feel to know that nothing can snatch you from your Father’s hand?