Do You Believe? What Easter Really Asked Me This Year

Today, as I was thinking about Easter, something didn’t feel the same.

We celebrate, we go to church, we dress up, we look nice, and we say, “Happy Easter.” But we do this every year… and I had to stop and ask myself, is that really Easter? Is Easter just about dressing up, going to church, and repeating the same thing over and over again?

Because if that’s all it is, then nothing really changes. We celebrate today, and tomorrow we go back to the same life. No change, no shift, no deeper understanding of what Jesus really did for us.

He didn’t die for that.

He was bruised. He was beaten. He was whipped. And He did it for us… so we could live differently, so we could step out of just going through the motions, hoping for something better but never really changing.

And it made me ask myself something deeper—what am I doing with that? Do I really think about why I’m here? Do I think about what God has called me to do? Or am I just celebrating and coming back next year the same?

Because we don’t have to be pastors or ministers to do something for God. He died so we could love others the way He loved us, so we could share what He has done in our lives, even if it starts with something simple… even if it starts with our own testimony.

Do we talk to people about what God has done for us? Do we take time for someone who needs us? Do we stop, even for a moment, to truly see someone, to speak, to care, to offer something real—a real hug, a real word, real love?

For a long time, there was a scripture that stayed in my heart: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me… to bring good news to the poor and to comfort the brokenhearted.” And I kept asking myself, what have I done with that? I wanted to start, but I was afraid. I didn’t know where to start. I didn’t know what to say.

And then I think about a dear friend of mine who passed away. I did speak to her about God. I was there with her, sitting at her bedside, showing up the best way I knew how, and I truly cared for her.

But even with that, I still find myself asking… was it enough? Not because I wasn’t there—I was—but I wonder if I was bold enough, if I could have said more, if I could have gone a little further.

I don’t know if she accepted Him in the end, at least not in a way that I knew. And that question has stayed with me. Not as guilt, but as something that opened my eyes.

It made me realize how important it is to truly show up in people’s lives—not just with care, but with courage. And maybe that’s part of why I’m here now. Because I don’t want fear to hold me back anymore. I want to be bold enough to speak, to share, and to show up when it matters.

Maybe something I write, something I share, might reach someone right when they need it most.

And maybe that’s why this Easter feels different.

Something shifted in me.

I don’t want to stay comfortable anymore. I don’t want to just go through the motions. I want to step forward. I want to speak. I want to share. I want to live in a way that can help someone else—not because I have everything figured out, but because I’ve been through things, because I’m still growing, and maybe my story can give someone hope.

So today… I choose something.

I choose to start.

Not perfectly. Not with all the answers. But step by step. Surrendering my life to God, even when I feel afraid, even when I don’t feel ready, even when I don’t feel comfortable.

Because I don’t want to only live on what others have experienced with Him—I want to know Him. I want to experience Him for myself. I want to be able to say, I know Him. He carried me. He helped me. He walked with me. Not just a second-hand relationship, but live it for myself.

And I remembered this verse: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even after dying.” Even after we’ve been stuck, even after we’ve waited too long, even after we didn’t move… if we believe, we can still live.

And then Jesus asked Martha, “Do you believe?”

And I had to ask myself, do you believe, Jenny

And my answer is… yes, Lord, I believe.

So today, I take this step. I don’t know where it will lead, but I’m walking in faith—with fear, with doubt, with everything I have—and I’m laying it at the feet of Jesus.

And maybe you’re here, feeling the same way. Maybe you’re wondering if there’s more. And I believe there is.

God is not asking you to be perfect. He’s not asking you to have it all together.

He’s asking you one thing…

Do you believe?