I don’t know what you guys have been doing with your time in lockdown. I’ve loved picking up projects and actually being able to finish them!

A week or two ago I enjoyed an afternoon scrapbooking 3 years of memories from when I was at university. And boy, did it make me super nostalgic and sentimental! As I looked at the smiling faces of my closest friends, it made me long for a simpler time.

For some of us, lockdown is going reasonably well. Maybe we’re enjoying being with our spouse or children more, like I said, I’m loving finishing projects and being with my family. But I’ve found myself longing for a season of life that wasn’t like this one. A life where days were full and fun. My guess is that you’ve probably felt like that as well right? Whether you’ve done some scrapbooking recently or not, amid covid-19 and lives that aren’t normal at all right now, we’re all longing for those better, more glorious days.

What are we longing for?

So many of the things we want to happen again are good. I want to give my grandpa a hug when I next see him, I want to visit and hold my nephew when he’s born soon, I want to get back to work, I so want to be together with church family again. These things are given to us by God, His good gifts. It’s right that we enjoy them and rejoice in His provision.

But I think there’s been times when these things are what’s given me hope to get through this time of isolation and distance. But we’ve all seen how quickly these beautiful parts of our lives can be taken away. Suddenly, our diaries were wiped clean. The things we’re hoping in and finding joy in amidst lockdown are good, but they’re fragile. So, if it’s not sentimentality for the past or hope for the things of the future that fuels our hope, you might be thinking, what else is going to help me work through this season? What else is going to keep me going?

So, whilst I get a bit sentimental over those better days of university and life before lockdown, let’s get thinking… What if there was a certain hope that wasn’t fragile, one that couldn’t be taken away from us?

Longing for liberation

If you joined for church on Easter Sunday, you might remember that we looked at Romans 8 together, have a read below…

“18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.”

We see in Romans 8 that we are in a time of longing. We’re waiting for a time when we’re liberated. There is eager expectation. Not merely liberation from a nationwide lockdown, but from all the suffering we experience. And it is coming, it is certain that liberation for God’s people and creation is coming. Because of the death and resurrection of Christ, we too will be raised with Him. We can know this truth and place our hope in it because it is coming. It is a future that is sure.

Maybe you’re reading this, and you wouldn’t call yourself a Christian. Can I encourage you to have a listen to the Easter Sunday livestream online? The resurrection is the event in
history that changes where humanity is heading. In light of the resurrection we aren’t heading for destruction because of how we’ve turned away from God. We are heading for liberation, we are heading “into the freedom and glory of the children of God”. If this sounds at all intriguing don’t close this tab and forget about it. Explore the sure and certain future found in Jesus. You can do that by getting in touch with the Globe Church, or by joining our online course on April 27th, May 4th and May 11th that will explore the basics of Christianity (email info@globe.church). Or start to tune in to church with us each Sunday at 4.30pm, you’d be so welcome.

What if we longed with certain hope of liberation and renewal? It means that I can look forward to hugging my grandpa and eventually holding my nephew, whilst knowing the certain hope we have of liberation. As someone whose crux is filling her diary a little too full, I am looking forward to when life is a bit more full and fun than lockdown. But, a certain and sure fullness of life is found in Jesus. Friends, we are heading for liberation, let’s place our hope in it.