I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in Me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from Me you can do nothing. John 15:5. NRSV.

A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps and makes them sure. Proverbs 16:9 AMP.

I am the Lord, and I do not change. Malachi 3:6 NLT.

This morning in our Zoom Retreat, we talked about what can hinder or distort our hearing God clearly. Do our own ideas of God and what He can or cannot, or will not do, determine or prevent how or if we hear? Our own expectations can rob us of experiencing how God speaks to us. He can bring to mind a thought, a memory, an image that would have meaning if we would allow Him to direct us. It was pointed out from a book by Andrew Murray of South Africa, that we don’t know what God can do – and our unbelief or fancying we know what He can do limits our hearing. John 7:17: Jesus said, “If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself.”

What an appropriate introduction of thought when I read our chapter, John 20. This is such a beautiful chapter because it shows each of us what is possible that we could not imagine of ourselves. 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. 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.” So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb. The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first; and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in. And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. So the disciples went away again to their own homes. But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; and she saw 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.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw 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.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” v. 1-16…Can you imagine? How did Mary feel in that moment, how did Jesus feel, how did the angels feel? How do we? “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, My God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene came announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her. So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.” But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger; and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book, but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. v. 16-31.

Can we give Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, the benefit of the doubt…our doubt – if He does not act the way we think He will? Do you think God can speak to you in your own private thoughts or memories He brings to mind, or that He will speak to you within the personal experiences you have lived that He has seen and known? To share with Him, in the very personal way He knows each of us, is a blessing beyond anything we could have imagined – right up until that moment He does – and we do accept and marvel in awe at the closeness and love He gives. And something essential and needed happens. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. John 15:9. How do we abide? We take His hand and walk with Him in closeness as He guides us forward to life eternal with Him. He has been here all along. We just haven’t listened…until we do. No greater love…that you may have life in His name. What Mary experienced, we can too. He will call you by name and you will know you are His and dearly loved. Another thing is that we no longer just read Scripture as though they are just words on a page. Everything becomes more real with Creator God. More real…and no greater love.