A Prayer To Recognize and Receive All That God Is Offering Us Today

So it’s Easter Monday – the first day after our celebration of Jesus rising from the dead.  It’s also a time to remember and reflect on all the events that we’ve just celebrated.

There’s a wonderful story in the Bible of an encounter Jesus had with two friends that I think helps us do that. 

Two of Jesus followers were heading home to a small town outside of Jerusalem called Emmaus.  They had put their hope in Jesus as the one who would rescue their nation and that had seemed to be turned upside down.  They were talking about all the things that had happened when suddenly they are joined by Jesus.  In the darkness of their sorrow and suffering they don’t recognize Jesus right there with them.  They do tell Him all about the stunning events of these days.  Jesus then tries to help them understand how all the scriptures they’ve read all their lives have pointed to him and recent events.

When the two got to their home in their village they encouraged Jesus to come in and spend the night with them because darkness was approaching.  Jesus accepted their invitation. And then this wonderful event:

As they sat down to eat, he took the bread and blessed it. Then he broke it and gave it to them. Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And at that moment he disappeared!  They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” And within the hour they were on their way back to Jerusalem.

There they found the eleven disciples and the others who had gathered with them, who said, “The Lord has really risen! He appeared to Peter.”  Then the two from Emmaus told their story of how Jesus had appeared to them as they were walking along the road, and how they had recognized him as he was breaking the bread.

And just as they were telling about it, Jesus himself was suddenly standing there among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. But the whole group was startled and frightened, thinking they were seeing a ghost!   Luke 24:30-37

Well, as we see things recorded here, these two excited friends had been too consumed with their own experiences and disappointments to see what was right before their eyes, until Jesus broke bread with them and their eyes, by God’s grace were opened.

Now that the despair and darkness has been lifted, they saw recent events in a whole new light.  They realize that their hearts had been touched as Jesus spoke with them about the scriptures on their journey.  Even though the journey back to Jerusalem was about 12 km and they were walking and it was dark, which made them vulnerable to any number of dangers, as the incredible reality struck them they headed back there to tell the others that Jesus really was alive and that they had seen Him.

God wants to lift us out of whatever sorrow and darkness has clouded our own souls with life’s challenges – certainly from this pandemic – but the hundreds of other burdens and disappointments and difficulties as well.  Our part is to realize that we are not seeing reality as clearly as we should.  God is with us, has been with us, providing us whatever we need for whatever we face.  God is doing more.  God is ready to explain more.  God, in fact, is doing so much that if we paused to let Him show it to us, we would be amazed.

Lord, today, in spite of whatever hardships we’ve experienced, people who have let us down, events that have brought great pain and sorrow to our lives, frustrations that don’t seem to have explanations, we choose to look to You and listen to what You are saying to us right now. 

You are always doing new things.  You are always doing more than we know and yet, in our frailty and limited understanding, You are also always showing up with us in our journey to give us the comfort of Your companionship with helpful understandings that get us through today well. 

We need Your words of life and so we will give ourselves to reading Your word and meditating on in so in the dark places in our life experiences we know what we can hang onto.  We need to hear Your words written on our hearts, so we will take moments to sit quietly before You and allow You to reveal Your love, Your power, and Your presence to us.  That’s really all we need.  Help us to stay simple, stay focused on You, and allow Your amazing resurrection power to live in us today.  Amen