He gave her back her son...

I don't know if anyone is following along with me on the "read through the Gospels plan" anymore.  I haven't spent much time talking about it here.  I'm still in there, but a few weeks behind.  My sweet, honest, mentor Suzy J told me early on in the process..."you know, the Gospels will still be there in 2014".  It was super freeing.  And ya'll know that I must value her input IMMENSELY if it gave me freedom from my spreadsheet. Just what I needed to press on.

Regardless of where you are (or aren't) on the "plan" to study through the Gospels, find a way to start the journey of learning more about the Lord through His word.  In this life, there are so many heart-aches.  There is so much pain, so much uncertaintly, so much disapointment.  Everyday. 

Yet in the Gospels I find rest. 

Notice I didn't say I find answers.  I'll be real with ya- I don't.  Not for my human questions.  In fact, sometimes I find more questions.  But I do find a place to dwell, a place to put my hope, a place to REST.  I find truth, I find certainty, I find hope. 

Hope in stories like this one.
One of the only miracles I can think of that Jesus completely sought out.  No one approached him.  No one asked him.  No one pleaded.  He just saw.

Luke Chapter 7
11-15 Not long after that, Jesus went to the village Nain. His disciples were with him, along with quite a large crowd. As they approached the village gate, they met a funeral procession—a woman’s only son was being carried out for burial. And the mother was a widow. When Jesus saw her, his heart broke. He said to her, “Don’t cry.” Then he went over and touched the coffin. The pallbearers stopped. He said, “Young man, I tell you: Get up.” The dead son sat up and began talking. Jesus presented him to his mother.


This doesn't answer why difficult things happen.  It doesn't tell me why everything was taken from her.  It doesn't tell me whether she even knew who He was.

It just tells me that at the height of his ministry, when his work breathlessly moved in a long series of phrases like "and then He..." and "Not long after that...",
He stopped. 
When he was moving from miracle to miracle, message to sermon to anguished prayer-
He saw her, a woman who had lost everyone.
His heart broke.  He had great compassion. 

And he gave her back her son.

Before she could even ask.
And in that, friends, there is hope.
In that, there is rest.

This story, a very true story, floods me with a million questions about its current-day application, but also leaves me with this certainty:

He sees.
He has compassion.
He will redeem.

ABL