“But we had hope that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since thing happened.” -Luke 24: 21
Commenting on Luke’s account of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, Stephen Mansfield (Healing Your Church Hurt) states that “we had hoped” is a plea of expression people have repeated throughout the centuries as they wrestled with God and with the adversities they had to endure. The author adds that we express our past hope when we’re on the other side of our woundedness, far from the good days of our ministry or vocation. As Stephen poignantly notes: “the turmoil rolled in like an Atlantic storm and now we find ourselves all the hours of pain away.” But we can come home.
As we’ve taken steps toward healing and transforming our souls through the power of the Holy Spirit, Stephen adds that, in a sense, we’re having our own Emmaus Road experience:
“Our own Emmaus Road experience is hearing Jesus’ words, inviting him in, welcoming his power to change us, and then seeing him as we have not before.”
We can say “we had hoped” with the spirit of people coming home again, people who know they’ve been away too long and are willing to take up those hopes again.
Today’s question: What do you hope for most in your healing, transitional journey? How are you seeing Jesus differently? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: the annotated bibliography of Healing Your Church Hurt
