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Plainly Speaking
with Karl J. Forehand
Where
is the Lord?
by Karl J. Forehand
Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb,
while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the
tomb. And so she ran and came to
Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them,
"They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where
they have laid Him." (John
20:1-2)
Does God
ever seem to get lost in your life?
Does it ever seem like He is not where He is supposed to be? At this time, Jesus was exactly where He
was supposed to be – the disciples simply forgot where He was. We often do that – we don’t take God
literally – we become too focused on prevailing circumstances – and we,
literally, lose God in the shuffle.
I
believe the situation is worse for us. Not only do we lose God in our busy lives; but it really doesn’t
seem to bother us. We say, in our
minds, “I’ll get to that latter – I’ll deal with that on Sunday.” Because we have lost the awe and urgency
of the empty tomb, we don’t react properly our broken relationship with our
Lord.
I want
to look closely at four things Mary did that can teach us how to react to
losing the closeness of God in our lives.
1. She
went running to find Him.
Because she found the empty tomb, she said “I can’t find Him” and went
running after Him. Notice the urgency
in her actions. There was a deep need
to know where He had been moved to.
All of her other “to dos” were off for the day, until she could find
the Lord.
We often
find ourselves apart from God and thinking “Oh well, I’ll eventually get it
straightened out. Mary knew how to
“hunger and thirst” for righteousness.
Deuteronomy 4:29 says, “But from there you will seek the Lord
your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him will all
your heart and all your soul.”
Mary ran
to find the Lord – we often meander after God.
2. She
was weeping because she couldn’t find Him.
But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping;
and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; and she beheld two angels in white
sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had
been lying. And they said to her,
"Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they
have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him."
What are the things that bring you to tears? What causes us to weep tells us a lot about what we value. Do you often week over not getting your
way? Do you pout because someone
insults or wrongs you? Do you despair
over unrealized goals? What are you
distressed most about?
It
should hurt us when we are out of fellowship with the Lord? But, often, we are the most apathetic
about our most important relationships.
We assume, they will always be there, so we don’t give them the
attention they deserve. We often
neglect our families. We can’t afford
to be apathetic about our most important relationship with the Lord.
Mary was
weeping – we are often apathetic.
3. She
was asking to find answers.
When she had said this, she turned
around, and beheld Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was
Jesus. Jesus said to her,
"Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" Supposing Him
to be the gardener, she said to Him, "Sir, if you have carried Him away,
tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away. (John 20:14-15).
We are
easily discouraged with spiritual things; but Mary kept asking. Listen to the words of wisdom from
Solomon:
Make your ear attentive to
wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding;
For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for
understanding; If you seek her
as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will discern the fear of the
LORD, And discover the knowledge of God.
(Proverbs 2:2-5)
We
cannot afford to accept easy, pad answers to complex problems. We often say, “I’m sure there is an
explanation.” The next time your boss
says, “Where is that report?” tell him “I’m sure it is somewhere.” When he says “Why aren’t you ever on
time?” try saying “I’m sure there’s an explanation.” How would he respond to that type
commitment.
We must
be committed to finding wisdom, understanding and discernment. It doesn’t just land in your lap – you
have to cry out for it – you have to seek it – you have to want it! Mary insisted that she was going to keep
searching until she found some answers.
Are you that committed.
Mary was
asking – we are often uncommitted.
4. She
was clinging when she found Him
Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to Him in Hebrew,
"Rabboni!" (which means, Teacher).
Jesus said to her, "Stop clinging to Me, for I have not
yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren, and say to them, 'I ascend
to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.'" (John 20:16-17)
If you
have truly been in the presence of the Lord, you generally don’t want to
leave it. It is one reason we do so
many silly things with rituals – because we want to recreate the experience
we once had in the presence of the Lord.
Mary was clinging to the Lord because she knew He was the source. The New Testament give us a simple word
for clinging – abiding. We
have to learn to abide in Christ.
Once we draw near to Him, we need to stay there. We need to abide.
Is your
relationship with the Lord what it should be. If not are you:
-
running to find it again?
-
crying over the loss?
-
asking, seeking and knocking to find it?
-
clinging when you find it?
Karl J. Forehand, 2002
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