The Sky is Falling

 A Series on Lent
 (Use the link below to read the verses.)
John 20:1-18

[As we approach Easter, consider the example that Jesus set by spending forty days alone in the wilderness to prepare for his ministry and his ultimate sacrifice on the cross. Lent is a forty day period with a focus on spending time with Jesus, to meditate on who he is and what he did for us. This Lenten series is about people who spent time with Jesus; and as a result, their lives were changed forever.]

  

In the children’s story of “Henny Penny”, Chicken Little cries, “The sky is falling”! I would guess that a lot of people over the past twelve months have felt exactly like that. It most certainly has been an unprecedented time, if not just plain crazy!

 

It begs the question, how has God been at work during these unprecedented, crazy times? How has He been at work through a worldwide pandemic; through the death of George Floyd and the ensuing protests and riots; through the divisiveness of the presidential race?

 

How has God been at work through children staying at home, away from school for a year; through the stress of couples spending 24/7 together while working from home; through people losing everything when their business was closed down; through the rise of spouse abuse and alcohol and drug abuse?

 

Just how has God been at work?

 

During the week of Passover when Jesus was arrested, tried, mocked, beaten, and crucified, the disciples may have asked themselves this very same question. Their world had fallen apart. Like Chicken Little, they may have felt like the sky was falling. Certainly, Mary Magdalene did.

 

¹¹ Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. ¹² She saw two white-robed angels… ¹³ “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her. “Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”            NLT

 

Mary was distraught with grief! Jesus had healed her; had given her hope and a purpose. Her life had totally changed. But in the past week, her world had turned upside down. As a result, Mary was looking for the body of Jesus, not the living, breathing person. Because of this, she didn’t even recognize him.

 

¹⁴ She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him… She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.” ¹⁶ “Mary!” Jesus said. She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!”    NLT

 

The story in John 20 is about a personal encounter between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. An encounter that she almost missed. How often do we miss an encounter with Jesus? Like Chicken Little, we can get caught up in the circumstances and emotions of life, and easily not recognize how Jesus is at work in our life; how he is reaching out to us.

 

Regardless of whether the sky is falling or not, keep your eyes and ears open to the ways of the Lord because he is always with you.