This week I was completely distraught over some circumstances in my life. The kind of distraught that feels like a dozen anxieties are having a dance party in your gut, making it impossible to focus on anything else. I panicked!
I opened my Bible and found the story of Mary Magdalene (John 20). In this passage, she made a trip to the tomb where Jesus’ body was laid to rest after the crucifixion. He wasn’t there. She ran to find some disciples and they all ran back as quickly as possible. All they found were the linens and cloth he was once wrapped in. At some point, the two disciples leave and Mary Magdalene goes inside the tomb alone. Distraught. Panicked. “Where is my Jesus?” She’s so distraught that she speaks to two angels as if they are Joe Schmo. She’s so distracted that Jesus himself appears and begins to speak to her and she mistakes him for the groundskeeper.
God whispered to my heart as I read the story. “Don’t get so panicked about the circumstance that you don’t see me standing right there in the middle of it.” You see, in the middle of the emotional dance party, we can be standing where dead things are, forgetting that the living Jesus is there too. We can forget that we’re talking directly to him and that he hears our every word.
The other part that I love about Mary Magdalene’s story is that she had a pretty amazing relationship with Jesus. She once had this great big need that only Jesus could meet. Jesus met her once in another very dark place and cast out demons in her life. In another dead place, Jesus spoke life and did the impossible for her. I couldn’t help but think about the times that Jesus has done the impossible in my life. How quickly I had forgotten the track record of his goodness in my life.
If you are panicked today over something in your life, know that Jesus hears you. You are not alone. Take a deep breath and another look. You’ll see him standing right there with you.
~Trisha Bowman
Christ Fellowship member
