Mark 16:3-4 They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back – it was very large.
Yesterday I had a conversation with someone who was facing some very challenging, very difficult, issues in her life. When I read the account this morning of what happened to the two Mary’s and Salome after Jesus’ death and burial, I thought again of the conversation.
Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Salome had lost a very close friend and son and were coming to the tomb with anointing spice per the custom of the day.
They were mourning. They fully expected to continue their mourning as they did the only thing they knew to do under the circumstances, but with an additional trial – how to get to His body, hidden behind a heavy and huge stone.
They knew they could not move the stone, but they came prepared with spices anyway. They did what they knew they could do, all the while discussing how to handle the obstacle they knew they would face when they arrived.
But when they arrived, the issue had already been resolved in more ways than one.
They did not have to move the stone. An angel had come from heaven and moved it for them.
They did not have need of the spices – Jesus had risen.
I see a lesson for me in this.
I plan and prepare as best I can for for what appears to be the inevitable outcome of my situation, but I do so with this reminder: God may be working in ways that I not only do not expect, but also in ways I will only know later.
God will move my very large stone in His time and way, and I will see it, but
maybe only after He has done the work. In the meantime, I continue to do what I know I can do, all the while recognizing that I do not know the end of the story that is unfolding in my life.
