Tuesday, March 30, 2021
Discouraged and Disappointed
“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?’” (Luke 24:32 NLT).
Have you ever been disappointed with God? Have you ever felt as though God let you down, that He failed you?
That’s how two first-century disciples felt as they were leaving Jerusalem. They were devastated because Jesus had been crucified. In their minds, that was the end of the story.
And then, none other than the resurrected Jesus joined them. However, they didn’t know it was the Lord. He did something to conceal His identity, although we don’t know what it was.
As the three walked along together, Jesus turned to them and said, in effect, “Hey, guys, why the long faces? What’s going on?”
One of them replied, “You must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard about all the things that have happened there the last few days” (Luke 24:18 NLT).
Jesus said, “What things?” (verse 19 NLT). So they proceeded to tell Jesus about Jesus.
But then the Bible says that Jesus stopped and rebuked them, saying, “You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures. Wasn’t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?” (verses 25-26 NLT).
Jesus went on to explain all the Old Testament passages that pointed to His death. I would love to have been a fly on the wall for that conversation.
As they came to the end of their journey, Jesus acted as though He would keep going, so they invited Him to join them for a meal. And when He took the bread, blessed it, and broke it, they suddenly recognized Him. Then He disappeared.
This story reminds us that God can use His Word to bring us back to spiritual life again. Disappointment is His appointment. God wants to restore your faith today.
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