Yikes And Yippee

A dear friend checked in with me this morning.
She sent a text knowing that I had been sick but was now on the mend.
I told her that I was feeling much better but was still coughing at night.
Rest and get well, dear heart, was her sweet reply.

I told her that I would try.
She was one of my prayer warriors that got me through the retreat where I was to speak.
Got your back, she reminded me.
And she does; and she knows that I have her back as well.

When I said that I would try to get rest, I was not exaggerating.
I told her the full house I had this past weekend with not much downtime.
I told her the week that was coming: celebrating my oldest daughter’s birthday and Easter.
I will literally have a full house with all of my children home.

My daughter is bringing two friends home from college to spend Easter with us.
My daughter’s fiance will be with us for Easter; my son’s fiance is traveling with her family.
We have a family event planned the day before Easter.
Somehow there is food shopping to be done for our meal with all the other preparations.

All wonderful blessings for which I am so grateful.
However, when all of that was explained to her, she now understood my words.
I will try to rest, was an understatement.
She had one reply: Yikes and Yippee!

That about said it all.
I sent a winking face emoji and said: Now THERE’S a blog post!
And there was.
And there is.

Funny thing is another friend said something similar on the weekend when I asked for prayer.
She knew the schedule that lay before me; speaking at the retreat and then preparing a big meal.
She knew there would be a full house this weekend.
She described it as…an audience of listening ears and a household of noisy voices!

Yikes and Yippee!
That about says it all.
Isn’t that what most of our days are like?
Filled with blessings but filled nonetheless.

Not much down time.
Not much stillness.
Noisy voices, households of people, and blessings at every side.
Yet we are still human, we still have limits, we still get tired, we still need time to rest.

After Jesus had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. As He approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it, and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ tell him, The Lord needs it.’ ” Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as He told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why  are you untying the colt?” They relied, “The Lord needs it.” They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As He went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. When He came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples!” “I tell you,” He replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out!” As He approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it. “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace – but now is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.
(Luke 19:28-44)

Yikes and Yippee seem to describe Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.
The crowd that yelled, Hosanna, were not the same people who would soon yell, Crucify Him!
One was the crowd of pilgrims who greeted everyone on the road with cries of, Hosanna.
The other was the crowd instigated by those who wanted Jesus dead.

The Yippee soon turned to Yikes as was foretold in Scripture.
Jesus knew that the Yippee would not last.
Jesus knew what would soon happen to the beloved city of Jerusalem.
Jesus wept over the Yikes that would soon come.

If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace.
Do we know what will bring us peace?
The real question is, do we know WHO will bring us peace?
As Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey, the people missed Him.

There were cries of Yippee but they were for the wrong reason.
They were looking for a Messiah who would save them from the Romans.
Little did they know that Jesus, their Messiah, came to save the Romans and to save them.
Little did they know.

Yikes would soon be cried out in the form of, Crucify Him!
They missed Him.
They missed the blessings that were all around them.
Listening ears were missing and in their place were only noisy voices.

Their King came but their Yippee was shallow.
Their King came but the Yikes would follow much too soon.
Jesus wept because they missed Him.
They did not know the blessing that was right before their eyes, riding on a donkey.

Which is it?
Yikes or Yippee?
There is still time to yell Yippee in all its fullness.
There is still time to know the peace that only He can bring.

There is still time!