Getting Real About Life and God
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
John 16:33 (NIV)
It is easy to feel abandoned in the middle of rough times. It is normal to want to lean into frustration and start asking, “Where is God in all this?” The middle of a trial is one of the most painful places to be.
When this is our story, we must remember that the God we serve has a clear pattern of behavior. He is a God that stays with His people in the middle of trials and brings them out at the appointed time. He is also a God that is working in the meantime. Most importantly, we must remember that the God that brought the ancient Israelites out of four hundred years of captivity in Egypt and returned them to their homeland after forty years of exile in Babylon is the same God that we serve today. Our God is always working.
Oftentimes, the problem is that we have a genuine (and perfectly understandable) attachment to the plans that we have made and the things that we ask of God. Because of this, when God does not show up as expected, we begin to believe the lie that He is not anywhere at all. Truthfully, in these same situations, God is usually showing up, aligning things for our good, and settling things so that we always have what we need. This spiritual dissonance follows the same pattern as the confusion we experience in our physical lives when we see someone we know from a certain context in a completely different situation or environment. It’s like seeing a friend from school at a coffee shop in a completely different country. It’s far easier to walk by them or struggle to recognize them because they are operating outside the context you usually know them in.
We even see this a couple of times in the Bible. Many times, Jesus’ disciples did not recognize Him because He was operating in a way they were not used to, even though He had already told them exactly what He would be doing:
Continued Revelation of Jesus’ power over nature: Despite having seen Him do miracle after miracle, the twelve disciples were still shocked and scared when Jesus walked on the water to meet them in the middle of a storm. At this point, they had seen Him prove that He was Lord over all of nature, but they still assumed that the person walking towards them was a ghost. They didn’t recognize Him because they hadn’t seen Him act in this exact way before, even though He had previously made it clear that He could rescue them from the middle of a storm by making nature subject to His authority.
Revelation of Jesus’ resurrection to the women disciples: It also happened with the women disciples who went to the tomb to check on Jesus’ body. They were shocked when they were told that Jesus was no longer in the grave and not among the dead, even though He had told them multiple times that He would rise. Similarly, the rest of the disciples still did not believe the women when they returned and told them that Jesus was alive. They didn’t believe or take comfort from the women’s testimony because it was not what they expected, even if it was exactly what Jesus said He would do.
Revelation of Jesus’ resurrection to His Disciples on the way to Emmaus: When Jesus showed up and walked with two of his disciples to and from Emmaus, they did not recognize Him. This was likely because He was alive and walking and talking and, in their minds, they believed Him to be dead. Despite their hearts burning within them when He spoke, they could not recognize Him as their Lord until He revealed Himself. They also did not take any comfort and continued to mourn, even though the person that they were mourning was right there with them.
Revelation of Jesus’ resurrection to His Disciples at their fishing boat: Finally, Jesus revealed himself to his disgruntled disciples who (led by Simon Peter) had gone off to fish, maybe to distract themselves from all the sorrow they were feeling. Maybe it was to root themselves in something that felt comfortable and familiar. While they were in this place (and having no success trying to walk back into lives Jesus had taken them out of), Jesus called out to them and spoke with them. Even though He was acting in a way that He had acted at the very beginning of their relationship, it still took a while for Peter to recognize Him, because the last time Peter saw Him, He was wrapped in graveclothes.
The most beautiful part of all these stories is that Jesus never stopped working for or walking with His disciples in these moments where they didn’t recognize Him. He walked with them through the rough parts of life and kept the conversation going until they recognized that He was present with them in whatever situation they were in. He was there even if He wasn’t where they expected Him to be. Thankfully, He does just the same with us today.
Prayer: Lord, please remove my eyes and my mind from the places I expect You to be, and fix my mind on the places You are. Give me the grace to see where You are working and how You are moving in my life every single day, no matter what trial I am facing. Help me to recognize You where You are and to align myself with Your work. Help me to believe You will do what You say You will do.