"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and He will direct your paths when you acknowledge Him."

Proverbs 3:5-6

This week's writings are going to start with the Road to Emmaus; this is one of my favorite stories in the bible. For those unfamiliar with the passage, it can be found at the end of Luke 24:13-35. Two disciples of Jesus are making their way from Jerusalem to Emmaus; this is a several-mile walk. Important note: Jesus had just resurrected, so it's easy to say a lot has happened for the disciples over the past few days, and they honestly don't know how to handle everything.

As the disciples begin walking, a man joins them and asks about their sorrows and why they seem down. They share their grief over Jesus's crucifixion and their confusion over his empty tomb. The man walks and talks with them all the way home, and once they arrive at Emmaus, they retreat to one of the disciples' homes for dinner. The cloaked man who joined them lets the disciples know he can not stay, for he has important matters to attend to, and the disciples beg the man to stay. It's late, and travelers should begin their journeys in the morning. The man walks up to the dinner table, smiles, grabs a piece of bread and breaks it into two, handing one to each of the disciples.

It's at that moment the disciples realize the man who walked with them all was the resurrected Jesus. The bible reports their eyes widening, and as they do, Jesus vanishes into thin air. The disciples run all the way back to Jerusalem to tell them what had happened and that the King is alive and they have seen the risen Lord Jesus. Now, there are a lot of takeaways from this story for sure, but I just want to focus on the main one. One that's more important than it ever has been before. The Lord is by our side way more than we realize. He speaks to us, and a majority of the time we either ignore it or completely bypass what's in front of us. We ask for signs every day, and then we receive them just to ignore them and do the opposite of what God would have wanted. You can only give so many signs before you quit trying to communicate right?

Luckily for us, our god is a gracious one, and I know from personal experience that he doesn't give up on you easily. I've mentioned in past blogs that I believe God speaks to me in numbers, and I am sticking to that. I honestly think I'm in a back-and-forth conversation with him as we speak; the big man wants me to take a leap of faith, while I'm too chicken shit to do it. Or I'm bat shit crazy and looking way into things... anyway. Look for signs in your everyday life where things just seem... different. I'm not saying the train that made you late for work just saved you from getting into a wreck, but I am saying sometimes we receive blessings and are blinded to the good behind them. Sometimes, if you place yourself outdoors in a quiet area and close your eyes and just listen, you will hear more than you ever have.

Take it from someone who's working themselves to death and can't sleep because sleep apnea is slowly draining life from me: God speaks to you most when you relax and listen for him. This could be why meditation is such an important practice. I don't know. Moving on!

It's starting to get late, so I'll wrap this up on this note. You don't need to listen for God all the time when your actions support his motive for us. When you trust in the lord with everything you have, and you give your heart to him, he will give tenfold back. I've seen it, I've lived it. It's glorious. His direction is no longer a question of where; all the answers become very apparent. It's hard to explain, but follow him, listen for him, and he'll show you the way. Jesus, I sound like a cult leader. It's a good life, though lol. Anyway, I'm exhausted, and that's this week's blog. Till next week!