As a rather tenuous link and perhaps unusual way of looking at things, today I read John 20 where Mary Magdelene finds the tomb stone rolled away and Jesus' body gone.
'Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”(v1-2).
Several things struck me here - firstly the importance given to women and the value given to 'sinners' (Mary Magdelene was a prostitute) is outstanding. I love the way the Bible takes the weak and the vulnerable and gives them identity and importance.
Secondly - the proof that Jesus rose from the dead is amazing. There is no bolt of lightening to announce his rising; no trumpet sounding, no red carpet... It just happens as if it were the most natural thing. Just an ordinary situation in which God works a miracle. God can work the extraordinary in our ordinary lives too!
Thirdly, and possibly the most meaningful for me at present - Mary's response to the unexpected. Let me expand. Mary turns up to the tomb ready to embalm Jesus' body and to mourn His death. Yet her plans become obselete as she turns up and finds the stone rolled away and Jesus gone! So what does she do? Runs to tell the other disciples, and starts weeping. Of course she is saddened by Jesus' death, but she is also so distraught at the change of plan that she fails to recognise Jesus when He comes to talk to her.
This made me think - and here is where it gets a bit tenuous - but I have a point. Sometimes we find ourselves in situations we never dreamed of being in. Sometimes we have a life plan that we are desperate to fulfil. There is nothing wrong with that, infact I think these are good and positive things to do, and God puts desires in our hearts. But at the same time, I believe that we need to be prepared and ready for God's plan, and for changes to our own. You see sometimes God has a better plan, a more fulfilling plan, a plan that goes beyond our own expectations and ideas. And sometimes we are so busy trying to fulfil our own plans that we fail to notice or recognise what God is doing.
You see at the moment I am totally at a loss as to why I am in Watford as you know! I miss my family terribly. I come home and life just isn't the same. It is really hard. Relationships are strained, I feel out of place, I am unhappy and totally unsettled. Yet for some reason I have been called to Watford for the time being. This definitely wasn't my plan. I still don't know why this is in the plan either. But I do know that God is working and has worked massively in my life. I don't wish to fail to recognise what He is doing and has done.
What about you? Are you mourning and weeping over an empty tomb intead of recognising the life and better plans which God has for you just ahead? Are you so intent on things going your way that when they don't you panic and fail to recognise what God is doing? Interesting thoughts.
Sometimes God's plans are difficult, but He has plans to prosper you and give you hope and a future (Jeremiah 29v11). Sometimes we do not see what God is doing, but He is working everything out for our good (Romans 8v28). Trust God today, and trust in what He is doing. I'm sure Jesus didn't plan to die, but instead He submitted to His Father's will, which had the greater good and eternal purposes.
I leave you with this:
'Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.' Proverbs 3v5-6.
Happy Easter!
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