“She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, be she didn’t recognize Him.” (John 20:14 NLT)
When I was in high school my friend and I attended a presentation at a school we’d never been to, just walking along talking as we made our way to the front doors. As we walked along my friend asked me: “Are you and Sam (my girlfriend) having trouble?” (which wasn’t uncommon) To which I responded, “No, why do you ask?” “Because you just walked right by her and didn’t even speak to her!”
I thought he was messing with me, but as I turned around there she was with her hands on her hips, wondering why I’d passed right by her. It’s laughable in a case like that, but not when it’s Jesus. How many times in critical situations have we “passed right by Jesus” by not thinking of reaching out to Him first?
A few days ago, we got a delivery that we were looking forward to receiving, but when we removed the packaging, it was the wrong size and color, thus unusable. No problem, just send it back, right? Wrong! I called the company and the short answer to my inquiry as to what we can do about it was, it’s your problem, deal with it! Not the answer I was hoping for.
But there’s a sense in which that’s how we treat the Lord. We have an issue, but rather than taking it to Him, we essentially say, “It’s our problem, we’ll deal with it, never stopping to consider that EVERYTHING that affects us, affects the heart of God.” So, gratefully, my wife and I were able to say: “Okay, Lord, how are You going to work this out?”
The bottom line to us is, however it turns out, we’re not going to get bent out of shape worrying about it. I said to the Lord: “I’m very excited to see how You’re going to work this out to our good.” And I’m 100% certain that He will.
Think of the two men on their walk to Emmaus after Jesus had risen from the dead. The Bible says: “Jesus Himself suddenly came and began walking with them. But God kept them from recognizing Him.” To me some of the saddest words in the Bible are Luke 24:21 when the men said to Jesus: “We had hoped He was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel.”
How like us when things turn sour, and we bemoan the fact by saying things like: “Where was God when I needed Him? Why did God make this happen?” and many other dishonoring things. How much greater their joy if they’d been able to say with full confidence, not “We had hoped…” but, “Our hearts are still full of hope that He is the promised Messiah!”
We may not be aware of the Lord’s presence, we may not get tingles up and down our arms or hear His voice, but He promised in Hebrews 13:5: “I will never fail you. I will never abandon You.” He has been present with me, and I’m quite confident with you, when we’ve missed Him. Like the two on the road to Emmaus, our hearts were so crushed we couldn’t allow ourselves to hope that He was near.
May we allow the Lord’s voice to be so familiar that we never miss Him regardless of how severe our circumstances.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 