The Day After

The day after the crucifixion, death and burial of Jesus, where were the disciples? The ones who accompanied Him on His three and a half year miracle ministry and saw Him raise the dead, heal the sick, and cast out devils? The ones who saw Him walk on the water and still the storm with a word?

They were in complete disarray. Peter had left the ministry and gone back to fishing. Although He saw an empty tomb, He was sure that His denial of Jesus had robbed him of the chance of ever serving the Lord again. The rest had locked themselves behind closed doors, afraid of what the Jews would do to them. They were in fear and unbelief. Even when reports came back to them from certain women that the Lord had risen, they were of the opinion that these were women telling old wives tales.

So if we took a snapshot of the disciples the day after Jesus was buried, it wouldn't be unfair to conclude that their faith was also dead and buried. Is your faith dead and buried today? Or like Peter, have you failed Jesus and denied Him with your lifestyle? Or does all seem lost and your situations seem completely dead and without hope?

I came across a song recently that describes the despair some of us feel in this life:

Call you up in the middle of the night
Like a firefly without a light
You were there like a blowtorch burning
I was a key that could use a little turning
So tired that I couldn't even sleep
So many secrets I couldn't keep
Promised myself I wouldn't weep
One more promise I couldn't keep

It seems no one can help me now
I'm in too deep, there's no way out
This time I have really led myself astray

Runaway train never going back
Wrong way on a one-way track
Seems like I should be getting somewhere
Somehow I'm neither here nor there

Can you help me remember how to smile
Make it somehow all seem worthwhile
How on Earth did I get so jaded
Life's mysteries seem so faded
I can go where no one else can go
I know what no one else knows
Here I am just drowning in the rain
With a ticket for a runaway train

And everything seems cut and dry
Day and night, Earth and sky
Somehow I just don't believe it

Bought a ticket for a runaway train
Like a madman laughing at the rain
A little out of touch, a little insane
It's just easier than dealing with the pain

Runaway train never comin' back
Runaway train tearin' up the track
Runaway train burnin' in my veins
Runaway but it always seems the same


It's actually how I felt recently. But then I asked the Lord what He thought of what I was going through. And He reminded me of His disciples the day after His burial. Then He showed me that even though their faith was dead, and they were in fear and ignorance, He sought them out and appeared in the midst of them! He sought them out even when they had shut themselves behind closed doors!

John 20:19-20 (NIV)
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"
20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

His first words were "Peace be with you”, or "Shalom". The Lord assured them that all would be well. He did not even chide them for their unbelief or fear. He SOUGHT them out in their fear, unbelief and ignorance and MINISTERED to them.

When we are weak in ourselves, we do not take anything away from God. In fact when we are weak, then He is strong in us. When things are truly dead in your life, then God who is the Resurrection and the Life can appear in the midst of your life and raise your situations from the dead! And when God builds and creates, it will last for eternity!

But look at the state of the disciples. If we believed some of what is preached today in the church world at large, God wouldn't have come for them at all. Their faith was dead. Peter had betrayed Him and gone back to secular work. Even when He appeared, they didn't believe He had risen they thought they were seeing a ghost! They were even ignorant of the Word, as Jesus had to teach Him concerning Himself from the Scriptures.

It's apparent to me now that God is not something we have to maintain. That would be true if we had a false religion where one has to perpetually alter ones mind into a false reality. No. God is alive. He is the Creator. He is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End! He is God! And when you are completely flat on your back, helpless and unable to change your situations, God who is your Resurrection will seek you out and bring your dead situations back to life!!!!!!

And Jesus didn't forget about Peter either. Jesus sought Him out and sat Him down and restored him as well. Oh the love of our God. The following song by Chris Tomlin sums up how I feel about who Jesus is. He is the Creator who sees us in our lowly state, but He loves us the same. Are you weak? Then let God be God in your life today:

From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea
Creation's revealing Your majesty
From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring
Every creature unique in the song that it sings
All exclaiming

Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God
All powerful, untameable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God

Who has told every lightning bolt where it should go
Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow
Who imagined the sun and gives source to its light
Yet conceals it to bring us the coolness of night
None can fathom

Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name
You are amazing God
All powerful, untameable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God
You are amazing God

Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God
All powerful, untameable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God
Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God
Incomparable, unchangeable
You see the depths of my heart and You love me the same
You are amazing God
You are amazing God