There’s nothing quite so hard while you’ve lost a loved one as seeing their empty chair—their favorite piece of furniture where they used to take a seat, an unmade bed, or a bicycle with the helmet still dangling from the handlebars. That empty space represents the aching in your heart, a void that seems inconceivable to fill.
I’m reminded of Winston Churchill’s words during World War I: “There are only a few homes in Britain where you won’t find the empty chair and the aching heart.” After 20 million deaths and one other 21 million injured, nearly every family had experienced devastating loss.
But this is the reason Easter matters a lot. When Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life,” He wasn’t just offering nice words—He was offering the one true solution to our grief.
With Jesus’ victory over death comes hope. Even after we’re “tossed with tempest and never comforted,” God guarantees us restoration, stability, strength, and the hope of Heaven (Isaiah 54:11). Heaven is not the consolation prize—it is the jackpot! It makes this earth appear to be a beat-up tent in comparison with the house that awaits us.
While we wait for that day, we discover purpose in our pain. Isaiah urges us to “enlarge the place of your tent.” The more we open our lives to serve others experiencing similar suffering, the more healing God brings to our own hearts. When we decide to succeed in out as an alternative of closing in, God works in mysterious ways to bring beauty from ashes.
Easter also brings peace that transcends our circumstances. As a parent, nothing matters more to me than knowing my children shall be with Jesus for eternity. The material success and achievements we regularly stress over pale compared to this ultimate reality. This perspective transforms how we view our struggles today.
At the muse of all of it is forgiveness purchased on the cross. “He was wounded for our transgressions… and by His stripes we’re healed.” Without this sacrifice, nothing else stands. Jesus didn’t just speak of everlasting life—He demonstrated it by conquering the grave, the last word empty chair.
We’ve experienced this personally within the years since our five-year-old daughter went to be with Jesus. God has transformed that intrusion into something precious in our lives, layering it with His grace until it becomes a pearl of great price. What began as unbearable pain has, through Christ’s resurrection power, develop into an affidavit of His faithfulness.
If you are sitting with an empty chair today, I speak colourful, shiny, vivid beauty over you. Jesus is the just one who conquered death, rose from the grave, and offered everlasting life. This Easter, may you discover comfort within the One who makes the empty chair a promise slightly than simply a painful reminder. Because of Him, we will say with confidence: This will not be the top of the story.
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