When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it. Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.

After a tragic event, many people are at first shell-shocked and then go into a time of grieving what they had lost. This is the natural process we follow in ordinary life. But some people get stuck in a process like grieving and cannot break free from it.

I think this is where the disciples found themselves here. They had lost their Lord and Savior, they wanted to stand by him if he led a rebellion, but not really if he led in peace and sacrifice. These 11 men betrayed him, denied him, and abandoned him for the most part. They were some of his closest friends and his disciples.

And now they grieved. They grieved his loss. They grieved their own selfishness and failures. They grieved for the future without him. And they likely feared what would happen to them.

Their dreams seemed dashed against the rocks by the waves of unfair treatment and murder by the Jewish leaders. And so they cried, they wailed, they were unconsolable.

And in walks Mary Magdalene and they can’t even hear to understand her. She has incredibly good news, almost unbelievable news, yet they will not listen. She said Jesus is alive, but they were still stuck in their grief and could not fathom the goodness of God (when all had fallen apart around them).

How do I respond to God’s goodness after everything has fallen apart? Do I get stuck in grief and maybe resentment? I confess, I have spent too much time in these stages in the past. And out of this stubborn grief and resentment, can come bitterness and a sense of deserving to wallow in the doldrums of depression.

But God! He comes into the toughest of times with the best of news!

Thank you, Lord! You always come through for me. You see all that happens in my life and want to discipline and teach me. But I am never alone — you always have my best in store for me. Oh, teach me to trust you more readily and to look for your blessed intervention in the middle of the hardships that arise.