Words that Inspire

At a recent church service, the pastor preached on Matthew 28:2, the passage where the angel rolled away the stone from Jesus’ tomb. It signifies God’s ability to roll away seemingly insurmountable problems. It also signifies God’s ability to remove trouble and obstacles from our way. As we read this passage at church, I was inspired. However, my take was different. The faith to leap without looking, displayed by the women in the passage, inspired me.

Women & the Resurrection

In the preceding verse, Matthew 28: 1, the bible says:

In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher.

Mark 16:1, records it as:

And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.

Regardless of which gospel you are pulling it from, the one thing that is consistent is this: that faithful morning, they went to the tomb to take care of him. These women were well aware that the tomb as closed and shut tightly with a very heavy stone. After all they were there in Matthew 27: 66, when the tomb got sealed.

So they went, and made the sepulcher sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.

Or in Luke 15: 46- 47

46. And he bought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulcher which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulcher. 47. And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld where he was laid.

Leaping before looking

They knew that the stone was there and too heavy for them, but they still went. How many times have we given up on something, even before starting because we are aware of potential problems that lie ahead? What about the many times have we failed to step out in faith, because of an obstacle (age, race, money, etc)? How many times have we failed to go the tomb, because we know that a heavy stone is there?

These women were really remarkable. Regardless of the obstacle they knew was there, they went anyway, and lo and behold:

And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. (Matthew 28:2)

Before they got there, God had sent an angel before them. Something miraculous had happened there. What if they had never gone? What if they stayed home to mourn because they knew, for sure, that there was a giant stone there?

They would never have seen how God rolled away the obstacle from the way. A miracle encounter with an angel and the good news he brought would never have been experienced. They certainly would have missed out on being the first ones to hear of his resurrection and to see the risen Christ.

Faith to Leap

All I am saying is this: Do not let the obstacle you see or think is there, deter you from going where you need to go. If God has planted an idea or inspired you in some form, do not let a ‘but’ or anything else deter you. Their actions inspired me on a new level, because the thought suddenly occurred to me “This must be what faith is.”

Waiting till you think everything is set before taking action, is not faith based. We need the faith to leap without looking. Starting something even when the physical says there are limitations, all the while believing and trusting in God, is faith. They did not see the open tomb before going but they believed in what they were doing, strongly enough to start out on their trip.

We do not always have to have a clear picture or map or risk analysis. Abraham did not need one when God asked him to leave his father’s land. The result was an awesome relationship with God. When God says move, don’t think and plot – get up and go. Even if you think or see problems and issues, trust in God enough to start going.

Like these brave women, let us go forward in faith. Let us have the faith to leap without looking. Let us watch as God rolls away and destroys the obstacles in a way – even before we get there. Always remember Matthew 19:26:

With God, all things are possible.