How Do You Travel a Post-Easter Road of Disappointment? (Travel with heartburn.)

Two roads diverged in a wood and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” Robert Frost

This quote may be the most cited word on “roads.” I doubt the poet had “heart burn” in mind as a better route. Perhaps, the less traveled road is such a difference-maker because it is a more difficult one, requiring a faith born of failed expectation and emboldened inspiration. That road is often paved with disappointments. Recent post-Easter news headlines—like road signs—mark the way of heart ache: Beloved Pope Francis dies; Air raid in Ukraine follow Easter ‘ceasefire’ end, nine killed; A 45-year-old father of two, one of the two people killed during FSU mass shooting laid to rest. Truth be told, we all travel a road of disappointment no matter the season. But two travelers found heart burn as a map home to hope.

According to the Poet Luke, two disciples burned after the first Easter. The tomb empty, their crucified and buried leader missing, frightened and bewildered, they hit the road. This post-Easter message of Luke 24:30-35 serves as a map on how to navigate a road of disappointment. Take the Emmaus Exit that directs you to rise up, to speak up and stand out to put your disappointments in the rearview mirror.

First, when you are disappointed, commune with God through his word so that you will rise up and return to your responsibility. Our two travelers did after they had an encounter with a stranger. Sensing their despondency over the missing Christ, he preached to them all that the prophets had predicted of this Jesus.

As they approached the village of Emmaus, they invited the stranger for dinner. As he broke the bread and blessed it, verse 30-32 says, they discovered that the stranger was no stranger at all. They had communion with Jesus. The disciple’s eyes were opened when they invited Jesus to have communion with them:

32 And they said to one another, "Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?" Lk 24:32-33

The Emmaus Road represents a road of doubts and disappointments, a road Christ is willing to walk with you through those rotten relationships, those quicksand jobs, those dire diagnosis. He was a word for everyone:

When you are saddened by the loss of a loved one: Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. (Psalm 30:5); When your enemies are formidable: No weapon formed against you shall prosper. (Isaiah 54:14); When you feel all alone: There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. (Pro. 18:24)

As it did for the two travelers, that word will put a flame in you, a fire under you to move you from pity party to purpose. His word can’t be a stranger to you like he was for the two. Commune with God through his Word. Rise up and return.

Second, when you are disappointed, commune with God and speak up proclaiming Jesus. After the Emmaus travelers had communion, they rose up, returned to Jerusalem, proclaiming: "The Lord has really risen." Luke 24:34

They had called him Lord by title before, but now they are calling him Lord as a testimony that what Christ says He will do, He did—rise up.

You cannot waver on the resurrection. Without the resurrection, according to 1Corinthians 15:14,”… our preaching is useless and so is our faith.” The word the world needs to hear and see is a Risen Lord. He is alive. Is He alive in your walk?

The same power that raised him from the dead will raise you (1 Cor. 6:14); to walk a new life (Rom. 6:4). Speak this in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the utter parts of your clique, clan, and club, as well as your church. Speak up that Jesus is your Lord and risen leader.

Lastly, when you are disappointed, commune with God and stand out and testify what He has done for you. In verse 35, we see the once disappointed disciples, boldly testifying to the other disciples their experience with Jesus on the Emmaus Road:

they began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread. Luke 24:35

Distinguish yourself from your disappointments. Testify (1) what you were before you met Christ, (2) how you came to encounter Christ, and (3) how has your life changed since you encounter Christ.

The road “less traveled” is a road of both failed expectations and flaming inspiration—heartburn, if you will. The Word will make all the difference as you travel with Christ—disappointments and all. There is a reason a windshield is bigger than a rearview mirror. A hopeful, future path is larger than past pains.