We often picture victory as a thrilling moment of triumph, a peak experience where everything we’ve hoped for comes to life. This kind of celebration is certainly valid and exciting. However, there’s a more profound and practical understanding of victory, especially in a spiritual sense, that’s relevant to our everyday lives.
Victory, in a deeper context, can sometimes be found in what feels like defeat or even death. The moments we truly celebrate are often born from the very situations where we felt like giving up, the times we thought, “This is awful, I can’t go through this.” Think about the ultimate example: Jesus. The most significant celebration in history, Easter, arose directly from His death on the cross. It might sound strange, but those dark, challenging periods are frequently the birthplace of our greatest victories and the most meaningful celebrations in our lives.
These moments of victory-through-death don’t feel like parties. They’re far from joyous initially. They often feel like painful, confusing, and hopeless times. But if we allow ourselves to see these situations through a different lens, infused with hope and resilience, we can begin to understand the transformative power within these difficult processes.
“So the women left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell [the good news to] the disciples.” – MATTHEW 28:8 AMP
Imagine the whirlwind of emotions these women experienced. They had just witnessed horrific events and were understandably grieving. Then, suddenly, they encounter the risen Jesus, who essentially tells them this isn’t a time for sorrow, but a time for celebration. It’s a complete reversal of expectation, a rollercoaster of grief turning into unexpected joy. Jesus was inviting them to dry their tears and, in essence, start dancing.
This leads to a powerful concept: dancing on your own grave. It means finding the strength to rejoice, to sing, and to celebrate even when there seems to be no earthly reason to do so. The key here is “earthly reason.” When we shift our focus towards a broader perspective, a spiritual outlook, celebrating amidst hardship and fear becomes not just possible, but profoundly meaningful.
Furthermore, consider continuing to celebrate these “death” moments throughout our lives. Why? Because they are the very experiences that keep us truly alive and growing. We dedicate Easter week to remembering Jesus’ death and his glorious triumph over death. We create art, write songs, and exchange cards to celebrate his miraculous resurrection. Many songs of worship center around the Cross. We should never stop celebrating Jesus’ death and resurrection because it’s vital. It’s crucial for our spiritual health and our relationship with Him to remember what He accomplished for us.
Similarly, we should never stop celebrating our own “deaths”—those moments of personal struggle and overcoming. Never stop remembering where you’ve been brought from. It’s essential for the well-being of your soul to keep these experiences in mind. Because when we look back into the pit, when we remember the feeling of being in the grave and the darkness of those times, we discover a genuine, deep reason to celebrate the life and growth that has emerged from them.
When we remember death and the grave and what it felt like, we find a real reason to celebrate.
It turns out that true victory isn’t always about reaching the mountaintop of success or achieving worldly recognition. It’s not solely about those picture-perfect, dream-come-true moments. Instead, it’s often in those moments of death, dying, and seeming defeat—those “grave moments”—that we find the most profound reasons to celebrate and dance.
