All we have is a knothole view of reality. We look at our lives, our circumstances, our world, and we see limits and problems. But that is what the resurrection of Jesus is all about. It blows away limits, it redefines problems, it changes circumstances, it retunes our world, and it insures our lives!

    When the influential itinerant teacher, the young Jewish carpenter from Nazareth, was executed as a criminal of the Roman government, his band of rag tag followers were scattered. All hope was lost. Their dreams lay shattered at their feet and the last three years of their lives appeared to have been a total waste of time, energy and effort.

    From their knothole view, their lives ended when their Master was nailed to a cross and hung there until he died. Their grandiose expectations came crashing to earth. Once again they were nothing more than who they were: fishermen, tax collectors, and commoners. Back to reality they came, landing with a thud remarkably similar to the one they heard when Jesus' cross was dropped into place. It was all gone.

    But God's reality cannot be seen through a knothole! His plans are bigger than our dreams. His purposes in us are better than our imaginations. Over the next fifty days, God would replace their knothole with his vision. The power that raised Jesus from the dead was at work in them (Ephesians 1:17-20). God would do more than they could ask or imagine through that power at work within them (Ephesians 3:14-21).

    Wherever you are today in your own journey, good or bad, victorious or defeated, poor or rich, well or frail, remember this: all you're looking through is a knothole. God has bigger and better plans than you have yet to see. The resurrection of Jesus on that Third Day means that your world is far bigger than a view from your knothole can apprehend. All is not lost or gone, accomplished or realized. You're just looking through a knothole at promises our world cannot contain. Why not leave your knothole view at the empty tomb, and look toward the future with eyes of faith, hope, and expectation!