Just When You've Got It All Figured Out...

Mark 16
(4) But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. (5) As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
(6) "Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. (7) But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.'"

This passage describes when Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome were going to Jesus' tomb to anoint his body with spices -- an act we can assume would have been appreciated by Jesus -- since it was an act of love and of admiration, much like the woman in Bethany pouring the perfume on Jesus' body pre-crucifixion.

Now here these three women were, following their hearts, loving their saviour -- they had a great plan -- but imagine how shocked they must have been to find the stone rolled away and Jesus' body gone! And since God knew they would be coming by that way, He left an angel (the "young man dressed in a white robe" in this gospel) to explain what had happened -- to tell them there was going to be a change of plans. Instead of glorifying God in the way they had intended to: pouring spices on the body of Jesus, they would be participating in an exciting new plot twist: they would get to be the first human beings to pass on the good news of the resurrection!

I think that's one of the many beautiful ways God works -- He keeps the big picture to Himself -- allows us to think we know what's going on, and then BAM! God says "I am SO MUCH BIGGER than your plans!" Even if your plans are good ones -- many times God has bigger and better things planned. There are so many twists and turns in life -- a lot of them seem to be bad ones -- but God will always have the capacity to blow our minds, bless us more than we were expecting Him to, and to take things to a whole 'nother level...

And just because God changes our path sometimes, it doesn't mean we were headed in the wrong direction -- Mary, Mary, and Salome were right where they were supposed to be...the angel was right there waiting for them...God likes to keep life interesting that way. We can never put Him in a box, no matter how much we know or how wise we become.

God, thank you so much for being in control. We can't wait to see what You're gonna do next in each of our lives!