How often have we experienced situations or created plans in anticipation of how something should go, only to find ourselves in a place where nothing—absolutely nothing—is going as planned? Hosea 2:15 writes that God will turn the valley of sorrow and grief into a doorway of hope. 

From the perspective of the men and women who followed Jesus, this is what the first Easter felt like. Mary arrives at the tomb, fully anticipating she will finish preparing Jesus’s body for burial—but He is gone. Peter and John arrive on the scene and confirm her eye witness. As they returned to where the others were waiting, their intense despair must have been palpable. Where was Jesus’s body? Did the Temple authorities take it? What did they do with it? 

But then, Jesus appears to Mary, and after a few moments, she realizes it is Him. And yet, she still doesn’t know the full story. She, the disciples, and the rest of Jesus’s followers were thrilled to see their Teacher because they loved him so dearly. But they still didn’t fully understand what was coming. They were happy to see Him because He’s the one they love, not because they fully understand who he is–they just know he’s alive! 

You don’t have to know all the things to choose to follow Jesus. You don't have to have all the answers or know how it all fits together—what is important is that Jesus is who he says He is—whether you fully understand it or not. We have a lifetime to learn to follow Him and discover all of who He is and who we are in Him.