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All of us experience times when our expectations betray us. What we fully expected to happen didn’t happen, and we are left mourning for something that felt real but ended up being false.

“How did I miss this, God? I thought I knew what You were doing.”

But whenever our hopes hit rock bottom, that is where the glory of Jesus meets us in tender, compassionate ways. He is close to the brokenhearted, even when our broken heart exists solely because we didn’t understand what He was doing.

No biblical story reveals this truth about Jesus more clearly than the story of the two men on the road to Emmaus:

That very day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. (Luke 24:13–14 AMP)

What those two men saw was real. They had been through hell. Jesus, the Man they were convinced was the Messiah, had been arrested and executed right in front of their eyes. All their hopes for the future now lay dead in a tomb with Him.

Put yourself in the story. Imagine what that would be like. For three years, Jesus had loved and healed every single person who came to Him, and everything had gone well. Better than well, in fact. Again and again His followers witnessed His kindness and watched Him contend with the arrogant Pharisees, and He never lost or took a step back.

Then one night, all of that appeared to change. Jesus was betrayed by one of their friends, and He lost in a horrible, humiliating way. (Or so it seemed.) His followers could do nothing but watch or hide in fear.

These two men on the road were so lost inside their broken hearts that when Jesus Himself met them, they didn’t even recognize Him. He asked what they were talking about, and the two men paused on the road, their grief just crushing them.

One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, “Are You possibly the only one living near Jerusalem who does not know about the things that happened here in these days?” (Luke 24:18 NASB)

“How do You not know what happened? Haven’t You heard? We thought He was the One! But they crucified Him.”

In reply, Jesus began going over the Scriptures. When we are hurting, that is one of the best things we can do. The Word of God always grounds us, because it is our rock. The Scriptures bring comfort and hope when we need to reset. Jesus explained to His two friends why this painful event had to happen.

Later that night, the three of them broke bread together, and finally Jesus revealed Himself. They saw Him—the One they thought was dead—and all at once, it was a new day. They dropped everything and ran the seven miles back to the disciples to report what they had seen.

I love that story, and one reason is that I can imagine it being told a few years later from a grandfather’s perspective. “Grandpa, you saw Him? And you walked with Him, and you talked to Him? Tell me the story again, Grandpa! Tell me again how you thought everything was over, but it wasn’t, because Jesus was there.”

Does something feel lost to you, friend?

When expectations have shattered, that is where Jesus restores the soul. He shows up at just the right time. As those two men on the road discovered, there is nothing like hope when we feel hopeless. It is life to those of us who feel dead.

If you need your hope restored, Sue and I encourage you to read Luke 24:13–53 and let the Holy Spirit whisper to your heart. He knows exactly what you need, and the story He’s telling isn’t over yet. Hope is closer than you think.