“He asked them, ‘What are you discussing together as you walk along?’ They stood still, their faces downcast.” Luke 24: 17 NIV
Danni was our baby girl. She was my babycakes and my husband’s buddy. She was the church mascot and greeted everyone who came to the church office. She was greatly loved. Now she is gone and only a hole in our hearts is left filled with beautiful memories of the short six years we had together.
Jesus’ followers only had three years of ministry with him but they were packed full of great expectations. They knew the King of Kings, the Lord, the Savior of mankind! How could he have been there one minute and gone the next? He did great miracles and healed the sick, yet he ended up on a cross. Had everything they believed been a joke?
In Luke 24, two of his followers were walking to Emmaus, wondering how everything went wrong so quickly. There faces were downcast when Jesus walked up to them asking what was wrong. They told him how Jesus had been crucified. Verse 21 states, “but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel”. Jesus walks along with them explaining all that had happened and their joy and excitement returns as they realize who it is talking with them.
We have great expectations that sometimes do not come to pass. We love greatly and we hurt intensely when things don’t turn out the way we had hoped. Our loss is real but Jesus walks beside us. He knows the path that we take and sees our downcast faces.
I John 3:1-2 tells us, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is”.
No one has loved more than God. No one has lost more than God when he gave Jesus to die for our sins. He understands and walks with us through the good and the bad times. He is waiting to reveal himself to you and me as we turn our downcast faces heavenward.
Just Another Dog Devotion 