Stay With Us!

Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – May 9, 2020

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. Luke 24:28-29

I’m very uncomfortable with the messiness of life. This is true of relationships with other people, and it is especially true of my relationship with God. I have a high appreciation for order, reverence, and clarity. However, when I read the well-known story of Jesus and the disciples on the road to Emmaus, it shakes up my preference for neat and tidy spirituality. This is a story of messy faith. Jesus enters into a raw and vulnerable space, and heals people who are filled with doubts and confusion and aren’t even clear on who he is!

It’s easy to miss this fact. We assume by this point in the story they know that it is Jesus walking with them, but that clarity doesn’t come until they share a meal together. Yet even in their confusion, their hearts begin to burn within them, they are coming alive as they spend time with this man, so they “urge him strongly” to stay. I wonder what it might look like for us to urge Jesus to stay with us, even when we lack clarity?

You do not have to have all your questions answered in order to have a meaningful encounter with our Lord. Rather than being troubled by this fact, I’m learning more and more to embrace it and receive it as a gift. When I see the truth in this, it frees me to have grace for others, and grace for myself. It is liberating to realize that I don’t have to have it all figured out in order to follow Jesus. In fact, if I’m honest, my heart is often filled with doubts, fears, and uncertainties, and if I wait until they are all gone, I may never actually know the joy of being with Jesus!

Can you be so bold as to invite Jesus into the unruly and uncertain parts of your life? Undoubtedly, you are more aware of these than ever before. Over the past few weeks and months, you’ve likely had to confront your own failure to trust God with your present and your future. You’ve failed to love your spouse, kids, or close friends the way they long to be loved. Maybe you’re wrestling with a general sense of shame and guilt, wondering why you’re not as productive and fruitful as you want to be? 

Whatever your struggle may be, it is easy to say “Jesus wants nothing to do with me until I can sort this thing out.” Yet here’s the problem with that line of thinking: Jesus is the only way you’re going to sort it out, so to exclude him from the problem is to remove any hope for a solution! Jesus enters into the messiness of our lives and speaks peace and freedom. And so, like these first disciples, today we boldly pray, “Stay with us!”

Prayer

Father, thank you that you love us in our weakness and confusion. Would you by the power of the Spirit enter into our messiness and recreate and renew us from within, through Christ our Lord we pray. Amen.

Application

What parts of your life are you tempted to hide and seal off from Jesus? How can you this week instead choose to invite him in, no matter how dark or messy that space may be?

Related Reading

John 15:4-9; 1 John 2:28; Revelation 3:20

Here is a helpful resource during these days of grief, sorrow and uncertainty: A Little Book of Comfort

Post/Tweet today

It is liberating to realize that we don’t have to have it all figured out in order to follow Jesus. #wisdomhunters #stayhere #truth #Jesus

Worship Resource

4-minute video- Shawna Edwards: 

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