A quien madruga Dios le ayuda

"A quien madruga Dios le ayuda"...this saying is one of my favorite Spanish refranes* that my señora taught me during my semester abroad in Spain last spring. The Google Translate version of this saying is "God helps him who gets up early" but it's actually roughly equivalent to the English saying "the early bird gets the worm." Now this is a hard saying for me to relate to because I am most definitely not a morning person. I usually prefer to sleep in if I can and the idea of getting out of bed at 5:30 or 6:00am is not appealing to me in the slightest.

*saying or proverb    

However, last week I had to be awake before 6am every single day for work and/or the Holy Week services at my church, which started at 6:30am. Although this idea initially sounded like torture to me, I woke up each morning feeling surprisingly refreshed and ready to start the day. The Holy Week services that I attended on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday were a wonderful way to begin my day, and I was able to meet some new people and share more about my ministry to Spain during the breakfasts that followed the services each morning. 

Waking up early also gave me more time to do my own personal devotions and reflect on the true meaning of Easter. As I spent time thinking about the cross and all that Christ accomplished through His death and resurrection, I was continually overwhelmed by God's love for me--that He loved me enough to send his own son to die in my place and pay the penalty for my sins. The prayer that I repeated to myself all week was that the Lord would help me to never cease to be amazed by the power of the cross, because the cross changes everything. 

By the power of the cross, Christ overcame sin and death and washed me white as snow. By the power of the cross, Christ took my blame and bore God's wrath so that I could receive grace, freedom, and mercy. By the power of the cross, I have been redeemed and can spend eternity in heaven. 

These things are what we are supposed to remember and celebrate on Easter. But so often in our culture, we tend to focus on the Easter bunny and the chocolate eggs. So I'm glad that this year the Lord help me to reflect more deeply on what Easter is truly about--Christ's death and resurrection and what He accomplished through his sacrifice on our behalf.



Check out my previous post for the link to my April 2017 Newlsetter! ☺


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