The NIV 365 Day Devotional

Why the Resurrection Matters

Sandra’s husband of ten years died of a sudden heart attack last year, leaving her to raise three daughters alone. On certain days, she keeps busy enough to keep the tears at bay. But on others, she wonders if she’ll ever recover from the loss. She misses her husband’s arms around her, his head on the pillow beside her and his guidance in making big decisions. God, why did he have to leave us so soon? she asks. Why didn’t you heal him so he could live to watch his girls grow up?

C. S. Lewis asked similar questions after he lost his wife, Joy, to cancer. In A Grief Observed, he wrote, “How often—will it be for always?—how often will the vast emptiness astonish me like a complete novelty and make me say, ‘I never realized my loss till this moment’ ? The same leg is cut off time after time. The first plunge of the knife into the flesh is felt again and again.”

It’s normal—and healthy—to grieve when those we love are taken from us. But in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul explains why the resurrection of Jesus matters so much to those who believe: This earthly chapter is not the end of the eternal story; the pain of death will one day be only a memory.

When we leave our physical bodies behind at death, we’ll be ushered into God’s presence, where we’ll feel his healing embrace. We’ll be enveloped by his all-consuming love. And suddenly, in the light of God’s face, and in the face of his passion for us, all our questions, our grief—and our sorrows—will fade away. And one day, at the resurrection, our perishable bodies will be “clothed with the imperishable.” We’ll be transformed so that we can live forever with Christ in holy joy.

If you are grieving, hold on to the promise of the resurrection. It will make all the difference in this world—and in the next.

Taken from the NIV Woman’s Devotional Bible.