Marine Corps Base Quantico -- Luke 24:32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
Luke records the story of two men on a journey to a place called Emmaus. The two men had just left the city of Jerusalem immediately following the events surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus and his reported resurrection. On their journey, undetected by them, Jesus walked up alongside them and asked what they were discussing. The men, clearly dejected, assumed this was the most uninformed man in all Judea. How could he possibly have missed the recent events?
They explained to him all that had just taken place. Upon hearing their account of the story and seeing their miserable attitude, Jesus responded with this: “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the Prophets have spoken.”
For many, this would seem a harsh response from one of the nicest guys ever; however, Jesus was simply asking them to see what was right before their eyes. These men had learned the narrative God and His people, they had seen Jesus teach and heal, and they had witnessed countless lives changed and renewed. In other words, they had solid reason for hope. In the midst of their anger and confusion they became blind.
When faced with circumstances that do not fit our expectations, plans, or imaginations we immediately overlook the Truth. The magnificence of the story is that in their doubts God was walking right beside them. Many of us reject His truth on account of pride even as it happens right before our very eyes.
I hear too many people let small arguments — suffering, evolution, choice, sexual-freedom, death, disease, or poverty — explain away God as the only answer to all life’s big questions.
We are slow in heart to believe God, but we are much more ready to believe others. Regard unbelief as a fault rather than a weakness. The Scriptures promise adversity, sacrifice, and misfortune.
The walk to Emmaus was filled with meager expectations and minute faith. God walked with them, patiently listened, and then remedied their unbelief. They experienced the opposite of grief; they became “overjoyed.”
Life is about discovery, and the Lord opens both our eyes and the Scriptures when we need to meaning, purpose, and truth.
Light without sight is no good, and sight without light is no good. Discovery is about seeing things God’s way. Thankfully, He is walking beside us all.