Emmaus

I am thinking about the two disciples walking away from Jerusalem, discouraged and downhearted because they have lost their Messiah. With him, they have lost their hope for a better future, a greater faith and way of life with a leader they loved. They can’t see their way forward and so are retreating back to the lives they knew.

We can feel like that sometimes. We lose our way and start to doubt our faith and seem to be living in darkness. We can have such close, bright times with God and feel we are on the right track, but suddenly, all changes and we search for God and feel that he has left us.

Jesus meets up with these disciples and shows them by going through Old Testament passages, how his coming, his crucifixion, resurrection and the salvation he has brought had been foretold. When they share food with him later and he breaks the bread, Jesus lifts the veil and they recognise him. They felt the scales lift from their eyes and it must have been astonishing to them that here was Jesus with them and that these events had happened in their lives and they were witnesses to that salvation plan.

Similarly, we can have these enlightened moments with Jesus. Suddenly, we feel we are keeping to the path he has set out for us and fulfilling his plans for our lives. We understand what he is trying to do and how he is leading us when we ask him to. In the times where we feel he isn’t there and that maybe we are losing our way, he is still there with us but willing us on to keep going and growing in faith. He knows exactly how much encouragement we need, but it is for us to grow up in the faith and face up to challenges. It won’t be an easy path, but it will be one that is full of hope, faith and love.

God bless,