From Grief to Hope

You're listening to the My Morning Devotional podcast, episode 1511. Today's Devo is called From Grief to Hope. Hey there. We're the Alessies, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional Podcast. Hello, everyone. My name is Lauren Alessi and I am your host for this week. I am so excited to be leading this week because we have something pretty fun themed. As you noticed, this episode was called From Grief to Hope. But it's not only about turning grief to hope. We're deading. We're dedicating every episode and every day this week to a different character and person in the Bible that, that Jesus's life directly impacted. Because just like people in the Bible, Jesus's life directly impacts us. And we're just going to keep going on the theme. Just because Easter's over doesn't mean that Jesus's life and his impact on the world finishes with Easter and the cross and his resurrection. It keeps living on in us. So today we are going to focus on Mary Magdalene and we are going to read out of John, chapter 20, verses 16 through 18. And it says this. Jesus said to her, Mary. She turned toward him and cried out, rabbani, which means teacher, Jesus said, go instead to my brothers and tell them Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news. I have seen the Lord. So a little bit of context in this verse, because it's a. A lot happening in just a few verses. But when we read this full story, what it's telling us is actually that Mary's going and visiting Jesus's tomb. She's super sad, super upset. She's grieving, actually, because Jesus just died going to his tomb to remember Jesus and cry over him. And when she gets there, Jesus speaks up to her and goes, mary. And she turns to him and she goes, rabbi Rabbani, teacher, what are you doing here? And he says, go instead. Go instead of crying, instead of grieving, instead, go to my brothers and tell them. Then Mary Magdalene went up, she went to the disciples with the news that she has seen the Lord. What does this tell us here? That Mary Magdalene's life, of course, had a huge impact from Jesus. But in this story, it tells us that she went with a plan to grieve with a plan to Cry with a plan to mourn, to just sit, sit. And the emotion and the heaviness of this teacher who had such an impact on her. She was going to mourn him and grieve him. But that quickly turned to Jesus giving her hope and giving her a plan and actually giving her an instruction. Go back to the disciples. Tell them what you've seen. Tell them what you've seen here. And. And Mary did it. She followed. And what does that tell us? That tells us that Jesus turns our grief into. Into hope. Just like Mary Magdalene went with a plan to grieve, with a plan to be sad, she left with hope. She left with a plan. And that's what our lives can look like when we follow Jesus, when we follow the Teacher, when we follow the Rabbi. We can have a plan to grieve. We can have a plan to be sad. And there are seasons for that. There are times where we need to be in grief, times where we need to be in sadness. But there are times where we need to hear the Lord when he says, get up, mourning is over. Go back and tell the people what you've heard. And if you keep reading through Mary Magdalene's story, her story is just amazing in different ways that the Lord has. Has impacted her life. But another thing that may we never forget in this story is that Mary was the first person who got to announce the risen Christ. She was the first person that got to see Jesus after he rose from the dead because she went with a plan to grieve Christ. She went with a plan to remember him. She was the first person that got to witness a risen Christ. So what an honor it is to be Mary. I strive to be like Mary, someone who dedicates their life so much to Jesus, to the teacher, to the Rabbi. But because of that, ultimately, in a plan to grieve him, walked away with basically bragging rights. That gets to say, I was the first one who witnessed him, but also got to go back to the disciples and say, I saw him. I saw that Rabbi. And she walked away with resurrected hope, resurrected power, and a resurrected plan for her life. So here's what I want to ask you today. Where do you need that resurrection hope? Just like Mary Magdalene, where are you? Meeting grief turned to hope. Let's pray. Dear Lord, we just thank you right now for your resurrection power and your resurrection story. It does not end with Easter. It does not end with Holy Week. It carries on every single day. Lord, we thank you for the example that Mary Magdalene is Lord and God. Let us learn from her ways that we walk into today with grief, Lord, with a burden, with sadness, with heaviness. Let us give it to you, God, and let you bring us hope, bring us joy, bring us instruction and a plan. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. So there you have it. Your 5 minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow. We pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.