Have you ever lost something only to realize it was right in front of you the whole time? We’ve all had those moments—searching frantically for our glasses while they’re perched on our head, or asking someone if they’ve seen our phone while we’re literally talking to them on it. It’s almost comical how we can miss what’s directly before us when we’re not really looking.
But what about the bigger things? What about when you feel like you’ve lost your peace, your joy, or even your sense of direction? What happens when life doesn’t unfold the way you thought it should, and you can’t seem to find God anywhere in the chaos?
The Road to Emmaus: A Story of Disappointed Disciples
Luke 24 tells us about two disciples walking away from Jerusalem on the very day of the resurrection. Think about that for a moment. The greatest miracle in human history had just occurred—Jesus had risen from the dead—and these two followers were walking away from it all, heads down, hearts heavy, arguing about what had gone wrong.
They had put their hope in Jesus. They believed He was the one who would redeem Israel, who would overthrow Roman oppression, who would establish His kingdom. But then He died. Crucified like a common criminal. Everything they’d hoped for seemed to crumble in an instant.
Sound familiar? How many times have we placed our expectations on God, created a detailed plan of how things shouldunfold, only to watch it all fall apart? And in our disappointment, we walk away—from church, from community, from hope itself.
Jesus Shows Up in Our Disappointment
Here’s the beautiful part of the story: while these disciples were arguing and discouraged, Jesus himself came near and began walking with them. But they didn’t recognize Him. They were so consumed by their circumstances, so focused on their shattered expectations, that they couldn’t see the resurrected Savior right beside them.
Jesus doesn’t wait for us to get our act together before He shows up. He doesn’t require us to clean up our mess, fix our attitudes, or figure everything out. He steps into our brokenness, walks alongside us in our confusion, and meets us exactly where we are.
The church has sometimes gotten this backward. We’ve created lists of rules people need to follow before they can approach God—quit smoking, stop drinking, get your life together, then come to Jesus. But that’s not how Jesus operates. He came to the sick, the broken, the disappointed, and the lost. He came to people who were walking the wrong direction and gently turned them around.
The Danger of Missing Jesus in Your Circumstances
These disciples knew their Scripture. As Jewish men, they had likely memorized large portions of the Old Testament. They had walked with Jesus, listened to His teachings, witnessed His miracles. Yet in their moment of crisis, they missed Him completely.
We do the same thing. We get so caught up in our problems—the bills that need paying, the relationships that are struggling, the health issues that won’t resolve, the dreams that seem dead—that we take our eyes off Jesus. We stop looking for Him. We start trying to fix everything ourselves.
We become so focused on the storm that we forget about the One who calms the storm.
When Your Heart Burns Within You
As Jesus walked with these disciples, He began explaining the Scriptures to them, showing them how everything pointed to the Messiah’s suffering and glory. Later, they would say to each other, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road?”
When was the last time your heart burned for Jesus? When was the last time you pushed everything else aside—the schedule, the to-do list, the distractions—and just spent time with Him? When was the last time you said, “Nothing else matters right now. I just need to be with Jesus”?
That’s when transformation happens. That’s when peace returns. That’s when hope is restored. Not when you fix all your problems, but when you stop and recognize that Jesus is right there with you in the middle of them.
The Power of Recognition
The disciples finally recognized Jesus when He broke bread with them. In that familiar act, their eyes were opened. And immediately, everything changed. Their despair turned to joy. Their confusion turned to clarity. They got up that very hour and rushed back to Jerusalem—back to the place they’d been fleeing from—because now they understood.
The resurrection wasn’t about their political hopes or their personal plans. It was about something infinitely greater: victory over death itself, hope for eternity, and the promise that Jesus would never leave them or forsake them.
Living From Victory, Not Toward It
Here’s the truth many of us miss: because Jesus rose from the grave, we’re not living to get to victory. We’re living fromvictory. The battle is already won. Death has been defeated. Sin has been paid for—past, present, and future.
You don’t have to earn God’s love. You can’t do enough good works to secure your salvation. And you can’t mess up badly enough to erase your name from the Book of Life once Jesus has written it there in His blood.
So why do we walk around defeated? Why do we let our past dictate our present? Why do we live like Jesus is still in the tomb when He’s alive and seated at the right hand of the Father?
Your Resurrection Story
The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to you today. Not just for some future heavenly existence, but right now. God wants to resurrect something in your life—your hope, your joy, your peace, your purpose.
Maybe you’ve been walking away from Jerusalem, away from the place of resurrection, because life didn’t turn out the way you planned. Maybe you’re arguing with yourself or with God about how things should have been different.
Turn around. Open your eyes. Jesus is walking right beside you. He’s been there all along, waiting for you to recognize Him, waiting for you to invite Him to stay, waiting to break bread with you and open your eyes to His presence.
The resurrection isn’t just something we celebrate once a year. It’s the reality we live in every single day. Jesus is alive. He knows your name. And He’s not going anywhere.
The question isn’t whether Jesus will show up. He already has. The question is: will you recognize Him?
Thoughts from Pastor Toney 