Pastor Steven Furtick

John 2:22
After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said.  Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

Jesus offended the religious professionals by claiming that He would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days.
His opponents didn’t understand His deeper meaning, and apparently, even His disciples didn’t comprehend His intention-
Until after His resurrection…
Then they believed.

Sometimes we don’t/can’t/won’t know what God is up to until after…then.

After the throbbing of a painful trial subsides…
then we’ll appreciate the maturity that God wrought through our hurt.

After the dust from a devastating loss starts to settle…
then we’ll perceive that God had to take something valuable from us to get something of greater value to us.

After trusting God in a seemingly illogical leap of blind faith…
then we’ll clearly ascertain that He had the route mapped out before the journey ever began.

It’s easier to believe the promises of the resurrected Jesus
than the crucified Christ.
It’s easier to see God in the after-effects of our obedience
than the present-tense of our struggle.