As we watch the situation on this Earth become lower and lower, more and more hopeless looking I want to offer some encouragement. God is good. God is all-powerful. God knew every moment of how this would all play out as His Spirit was hovering over the deep at the foundations of the world.
Jesus’s disciples followed Him on foot. They lived with Him day in and day out for years. They collected wood with Him, set up tents with Him, cooked with Him, ate with Him, washed up the dishes with Him. They listened to Him teach. They listened as He told them that He needed to die and they did not understand.
Finally, Jesus was betrayed by one of His own disciples, delivered into the hands of the authorities. The authorities found no fault with Him yet for political purposes handed Him over to the religious leaders who were infuriated by the things Jesus had been teaching, by the healings He had done. The charge they levied against him was that He claimed to be the Son of God. His disciples all scattered and were terrified. The leaders beat Jesus, they mocked Him and decided to kill Him. The cross was one of the most horrible ways ever devised for a man to die. He would die with murders and thieves.
Jesus died. He was placed in a tomb that was like a cave carved in rock with a large stone placed over the entry. The tomb was guarded so that no one could steal His body and claim He had not died.
His disciples were bereft. How could this be? What about the Life he had promised? Where was God? Had they wasted their time following Jesus? What were they to do now?
They sat, they cooked, they did the dishes. They slept and talked about it all. Maybe they could not eat and had nothing left to say. Maybe they cried. Certainly, they cried out to God because they still did not understand.
Then Jesus started appearing. My favorite story is in Luke 24. Two of the disciples were walking along the road when another man came up alongside them and started talking with them. The Bible says their eyes were restrained and they did not recognize the man as Jesus. He asked why they were sad. They couldn’t believe that this man had not heard so they told Him about the great man who had been crucified. Jesus actually called them foolish and then poured through the Old Testament reciting all the scriptures that proved all these things had been prophesied and were indeed, right on track with God’s plan.
When they came to where they were going, they urged Him to stay with them. As they ate together, He blessed the bread, broke it and gave it to them. At this moment their eyes were opened. The recognized Him and He vanished! That is hilarious!
Our God loves us. He has not abandoned us, will not abandon us. When we finally come out the other side of this, we too will see that He was walking with us the entire time. It all has a purpose. Trust Him.
Author: Janna Swanson
Janna Swanson helps her husband Paul farm in NW Iowa with their two young daughters. Since 2013 Janna has volunteered her time and energy for her community. She was a key member of the Preservation of Rural Iowa Alliance that protected landowners from the Rock Island Clean Line. From there she helped start and facilitated the grassroots group, The Coalition for Rural Property Rights to help protect community members from industrial wind installations. She is also a board member of National Wind Watch, a 25-year online collection of information of the industrial wind opposition from around the world. Most importantly Janna is a follower of Christ and seeks to help others to know and understand Him. Yet because she is also seeking deepening her own knowledge and understanding she welcomes critical, constructive debate. No one has the corner on truth, we all see “through a glass, darkly”. (I Corinthians 13:12)
