"Say It Again!"

 "Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away." (John 20:15 KJV)

  "There he came to a cave, where he spent the night. But the LORD said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" Elijah replied, "I have zealously served the LORD God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your alters, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too."" (1 Kings 19:9-10 NLT)

 Here is the part where we see the reason, I believe, Mary understood and believed, previously, that Jesus would rise again from the dead; because He knew she had believed, and now is asking her, as did the angels, "Woman, why weepest thou?" Additionally, He adds, "Whom seekest thou?" which is a lot like He says to those two men walking down the road, talking about all that happened in Jerusalem: "What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?" (Luke 24:17)

 I'm really sorry if I am beating a dead horse, but it is amazingly strange how easy it is to forget, God can do mighty and powerful things, beyond anything we could ever imagine! Somehow, we feel as though the source of our strength is within us, as if, when we are weak and feel abandoned, the gig is up! As if we have been doing what we thought God wants, but because it is getting opposition and resistance, it must have not been God's plan, at all!  

 Currently, I am reading the Book of Acts to my wife. I you are familiar with the Book, then you should recall how much opposition the church experienced when it first started. Peter and John were thrown in jail for preaching about Jesus; yet they were released from jail by an angel, and back inside the Temple, preaching again. Then arrested again, and then flogged, and let go; with the order to not preach or speak about Jesus again. Did that stop them? No! 

 Think about how many times you did not share Jesus, for sake of offending someone, or just to be quiet, as if you didn't want to a fish out of water. If you don't have any of those memories, good for you; you are better than most! Paul is the greatest example of living bold and not holding back. If it helps, it most likely is because he had been shown, more than once, that he would suffer many things for the sake of preaching the Gospel. When you have accepted the fact that it will hurt, getting hurt isn't really the problem! 

 Hurt comes in all sorts of different ways, some physically, some emotionally; some, is just your pride or your chance of being out of work or losing a friendship or relationship! Everything we think will a walk-in-the-park, as soon as it gets hard or challenged, we think it was a mistake, or that God has closed the door. Maybe He just wants you to trust Him, especially when it doesn't seem possible! 

 When we start giving up on believing the impossible, we give up on God; that is never going to turn out well...

"And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a voice said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He replied again, "I have zealously served the LORD God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too." Then the LORD told him, "Go back the same way you came, and travel to the wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive there, anoint Hazael to be king of Aram. Then anoint Jehu grandson of Nimshi to be king of Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from the town of Abel-meholah to replace you as my prophet. Anyone who escapes from Hazael will be killed by Jehu, and those who escape Jehu will be killed by Elisha! Yet I will preserve 7,000 others in Israel who have never bowed down to Baal or kissed him!"" (1 Kings 19:12-18 NLT)