***Today, for Worship Wednesday, please welcome my dear friend, Margaret Franklin, to the table. Her heart for the Lord and for her family is so very beautiful to me and anyone who has the privilege of knowing and doing life with her. I know you will be blessed as she shares her personal journey from “Hosanna to Hallelujah!” 

From Hosanna to Hallelujah!

 

I am known by those close to me to be a collector of words. I love words. Reading them. Writing them. Sharing them. Pondering what they mean, what they speak, and what they convey. Sometimes a word jumps out and just seems to hang around in my heart and mind. It becomes highlighted and continually leaps into my view.

One word in particular has been resonating in my spirit for about a month now. Here we are weeks past Palm Sunday, and “Hosanna” decides to start pounding in the deep parts of me.

Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna!

A word cried out in distress in the Psalms and shouted in triumph in the Gospels (Psalm 118:25, Matthew 21:9, Mark 11:9-10, John 12:13). A word translated from Hebrew and Greek to mean “save, please.”

A word I hear my spirit crying out to the Father: “Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna!” Crying out with a rhythm and energy that my voice cannot match. It is an inner cry. A cry driven by emotion. That overwhelming feeling that calls for a rescuer… a hero… something or someone that can pull us up, hold us, save us.

There are hurts and hard. There are things that are heavy on my heart and heavier on the hearts of so many I love. There are aches and weariness. There is the stuff that just comes from doing the busy and big of life.

Can you feel them too? Do the emotions stirred from the press of it all swirl within, bubble up from the deep places, threaten to drown your hope, cry out for something… anything that will bring peace? If there was ever a need for a rescuer, so often, I feel it is now.

We are crying out: save, please. Crying out: hosanna!

Hosanna has been pounding in my spirit, yet the Holy Spirit has been whispering to my heart…

Be Still!

            “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Exodus 14:14

Wait!

Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”

            Psalm 27: 14

Behold!

“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”

1 John 5:20     

Believe!

            Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…”

Acts 16:31

So here I sit on the other side of Holy Week. I sit here weeks later knowing the “end of the story.” He conquered death… the death He died for us! He did so for us, to save us! In saving us, His power resides in us (Luke 24:6, Romans 5:8, Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 8:11)!

Knowing this, yet still crying out to be saved. I am sitting on the Hallelujah side of the resurrection and still living in the Hosanna. Crying out to be saved instead of leaning into the truth of our Savior.

The word Hosanna pounds in my spirit now to remind me: He has already done the work. The work we can’t… no matter how hard we try or how hard we search for a hero to rescue us. The hard of life will always be here. It will always press. Our emotions will continue to be stirred. But the good news is our salvation has come. We have a hero.

“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever.”

Galatians 1:3-5

Friends, let’s purpose to be still in the midst of our cries and just breathe Him in deeply. He has done the work. Through Him we have the promise that He will fight for us. In the midst of it all, whatever your “all of it” looks like, the Lord is mighty to save. We can rest in the Truth that He has already done it. So, today I pray we will truly allow our Hosanna to be transformed to Hallelujah by the power of Jesus Christ… our hero!

“The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love…”

Zephaniah 3:17

A song stopped me in my tracks and interrupted my “Hosannas” a few weeks ago. Take a moment and breathe as you drink in the big truths of “Save Me” by Steffany Gretzinger. Let it speak to the deep places where you are seeking to be saved. Let your eyes be drawn to our Savior, our Hero. As we worship Him, may we truly do as she sings…. may we stop striving, stop trying to find our hero or trying to be our own hero. It all starts with breathing Him in deeply. He is the only one who can save us, and good news: It is already done!

Because of His Big Love ~

Margaret Franklin

 

Margaret Franklin is a wife, mother, friend, lover of words and follower of Jesus. Connecting with people and connecting people with the Lord are her passions. The adventures of Army life and serving in PWOC since 2002 have allowed that passion to grow as well as provided her with great personal and spiritual growth. Margaret is a co-founder of the Gather conference (www.gatherconference.org). Margaret and her husband Herb have been married for 28 years and have 2 amazing sons, 1 fabulous daughter, and have recently added a wonderful daughter-in-love to their family. They are currently living the military life while serving the Lord wherever He desires to send them.