“While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. He said to them, ‘What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?’ They stood still, looking sad… He said to them, ‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?’ Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself…
“When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?’ And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those with them gathered together…
“As they were talking about these things, Jesus stood among them, and said, ‘Peace to you!..’
“He led them out [to] Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them.” Luke 24:15-17,25-27,30-33,36,50
Jesus’s resurrection changed everything: confusion to clarity, trouble to peace, fear to joy, paralysis to purpose. Stunned at His cruel, seemingly senseless death, the disciples who’d walked regularly with Jesus were bereft, bewildered, sad. Until they weren’t. They could not see far with downcast eyes, but one by one, encounter by encounter, they were confronted with the risen Lord. Their sights lifted, their hearts spiritually awakened, and with fresh impetus their risen Lord gave them benediction to begin life anew in His pending absence.
We get accustomed to what we’ve always known, or at least what we’ve made our routine. From places of ease and familiar, change is unsettling, loss almost unbearable. When unexpected or life-churning events take place, we are jolted and cannot always understand the way forward. But in His good providence, God interjects divine disruptions to harken us awake from spiritual sloth and transform us. He would not have us grow idle, nor our spiritual vigor wane, nor our faith decay. (2 Peter 1:3-10; 3:18)
The Lord knows what’s come behind and how we’re wired to process current realities, and prepares us for what lies ahead. His ways are always purposeful, and what may seem a shock or conundrum is often the very means of His determination and applied grace on our journey. He intends to lift our eyes from circumstances to Him, to awaken faith in the unseen and eternal. He comes alongside to probe our understanding and challenge us to think and grow and consider Him. He enters our mundane to teach us of greater things, reminding us in the breaking of bread of His many past faithfulnesses and provisions.
How do we walk with Him? Are we confused, closed to possibilities, or dense at comprehending His high purposes in our present situation? What if we take Him into our confidence and ask His help and wisdom, if we gazed above our circumstances and opened our hearts to His fire? How might His personal presence and blessing redirect emotions, mindset, and efforts for eternity?
Father, lift my eyes and ignite my desire to know, serve, and glorify You.
As the rain and snow 