Last December, my friend Lisa made me aware of this story and I’ve been wanting to share it for a while now. But it’s really just thoughts on somthing I find interesting. It’s a bit different, but maybe you, too, will not only find it interesting, but will find yourself thinking deep thoughts as I have.
Have you heard of Bethel Music? It is a Christian worship music label originating in Redding, California. It came out of the charismatic mega church known as Bethel Church. Last December, one of Bethel Music’s singer songwriters, Kalley Heiligenthal, lost her daughter. Out of the blue, during the night, her sweet 2-year-old Olive stopped breathing and in the morning was found dead. But instead of grieving and mourning and calling the funeral home right away, Kalley and her husband, with their church joining them, began asking for resurrection. They were believing for resurrection. #WakeUpOlive was exploding all over Instagram. They said Olive Alayne, their daughter’s name, meant “victorious awakening.” They were declaring life over her grave. Contending with the Lord that she be awakened.
Lisa and I “watched” this for days on Instagram as we read, “Day 3 is a really good day for resurrection,” and “Day 4 is a really good day for resurrection.:” In the evenings Kalley and her church would come together and sing and praise and pray and dance and believe for Olive’s resurrection. And why not?
Jesus brought people back from the grave. He resurrected Lazarus. He said “Talitha koum” – little girl I say to you get up — and woke up a 12-year-old. There were other awakenings, other people who were resurrected in the Bible. It’s a fact. If you believe the Bible.
So is this a rational thing for Kalley to have asked for? I remember when my Dad died, looking at him in the casket. I remember giving Jesus a timid shout-out that went something like this, “I know you could raise him up right now. Right now. You could do it. Easy. If you wanted to. I believe you could do it. But will you? Probably not. At least now.” That’s a pretty timid declaration of faith. It is nowhere near Kalley’s boldness.
But it’s odd, right? Different. Kinda out there? Yet, there’s that verse quoted from none other than Jesus himself telling his disciples to Go and “heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, RAISE THE DEAD, cast out devils. Freely you have received, freely give. (Matthew 10:8)
Boom! Not so weird after all? Could we ask for the power of resurrection in the here and now? Should we? Would we?
Little Olive was not resurrected. The family eventually made plans for her celebration of life, still proclaiming a victory story – that Olive awakened many hearts and King Jesus was still worthy.
Wow! As you can imagine, Lisa and I went down a lot of “rabbit holes” in this story. There is a fascination for me that beliefs went from Olive being asleep in need of awakening, dead in need of resurrection, in the grave in need of coming out; to be finally in the presence of her heavenly Father. But this isn’t about the rabbit holes or the state of the dead.
I guess it’s about faith.
I don’t know what kind of miracles we will witness as the second coming hurtles towards us. I don’t know what kind of delusions we will see either. I guess that’s why we need that firm foundation. We need that Rock. We need those strong roots.
I still follow Kalley’s Instagram. She’s articulate and inspiring. And right before Christmas she wrote this, which I have been musing over ever since.
“I want to be like Anna and Simeon who waited years to see the promised Messiah. They heard news of a newborn and didn’t have to watch it unfold till the end to know that seeing the start means it’s as good as done, inevitable, because they knew Him as faithful. They saw glad tidings of great joy in baby form like it was full grown. I want eyes to see and arms to receive this unexpected King of hope…”
In this new year full of Covid and political insanity and uncertainty in so much, may we be certain that He is faithful and victorious and worthy. May our hope and faith come alive as never before. May we be reminded that even though the “life puzzle” on our tables is not yet complete, it is indeed, as good as done. And may that give us great joy!