In a world full of conflict, disagreements and choosing sides, it seems like there are very few things that the everyone can agree on. There is one thing, though, that most everyone who reads this has probably already come to grips with (and, if you haven’t, then brace yourself): most of the time, the world isn’t your friend. You’re probably thinking, Man, this Logan guy really knows how to poop a party. But hear me out. This world is far from perfect, and there is going to be crap that goes on in our lives every day. Stress, fear, hate, even death. We’re a broken world, and we’ll stay that way for a long, long, time. However, this by no means implies that we can’t have hope for the future. Jesus Christ came, a literally perfect man, to teach, give hope, life, and ultimately give himself to die and rise three days later. Why? With his resurrection we c have the opportunity to invite him into our hearts to make them whole and forgive us of all our mistakes and troubles. To receive that abundant grace, though, we have to admit our brokenness with all that’s in us, and commit to serve the Lord, the One who died for us, by loving others, and spreading hope. It’s not as easy as it sounds, though. Like I said, this world is a mess, full of wrongdoing, and sadness, and living a righteous life is like playing old school Super Mario, with one life left and no mushrooms in sight: pretty dang hard. However, when Jesus resurrected, he sealed the deal. When we accept him into our lives, we get eternal life in Heaven with him. No pain, sadness, suffering, or any imperfection, just sheer glory. (If you have ever seen one of those corny infomercials for a revolutionary new mop, blender or whatever, then you know the tagline that always shows up near the end: “But wait, that’s not all!” That’s what I imagine Jesus saying after rising and coming out of the tomb.) We are given lots of reminders of that hope in Scripture, but this one really stands out to me:

“For this light momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison …” (2 Corinthians 4:17, ESV). Pretty crazy, right? God wants us to know that no matter what we endure on earth, we have the assurance that the awesomeness of heaven will make all those problems worth putting up with. When we get up to heaven, and the sky opens up its arms to welcome us home, we’ll be like “Earth? No sweat.” So, when you get caught up with curveballs and roadblocks, think of eternity, and everything will fall into place. I promise.