Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. – Luke 24:15b
In one of my counseling sessions I was explaining what happened when late one afternoon, two neighborhood bullies left me alone, tied to a zip line, thirty feet up in the air. They locked its forward and backward motion, and left me hanging over the ground with no way off, no way forward, and no way back. The only way of escape was to get out of the ropes binding me to the zip line, and jump down.
Needless to say, as a young boy, I was petrified. After an hour getting free from the ropes tying me to the monorail, I did the only thing I knew to do. I jumped down. By the grace of God, I was not hurt, and I walked home.
After I shared this story, one of the counselors had me close my eyes, and ask Jesus to reveal Himself to me in that trial. After a few seconds, The Lord was kind to show me Himself catch me when I jumped off the zip line, and walk me home.
Three days after Jesus' was crucified, two of His followers were walking home, traumatized, hurting, afraid, and in deep grief over the horrific crucifixion death of their Lord. According to Luke, "While they conversed and reasoned, Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him. And He said to them, “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?” – Luke 24:15-17
As it was with these two men, as it was with Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb, and as it was with me, Jesus knows when we are traumatized, hurting, saddened, and/or endangered. He compassionately draws near to us, listens to us, walks with us, and visits us in the present and/or retroactively to comfort, heal, encourage, and/or protect us. He loves to, and He alone can turn an encounter with darkness into an encounter with Light. He knows the perfect time to open our eyes to see Him for maximum Heavenly affect.
If you currently in, or are struggling with a traumatizing situation from the past, ask The Lord to reveal Himself to you in it. I am asking The Lord here, on your behalf, to reveal Himself to you, and to heal you from whatever is or has traumatized, endangered, alienated, harmed, or humiliated you.
Amen. Holy is The Lord
