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One Sunday morning, I was waiting in line in the women’s restroom at church prior to the start of first service. I don’t remember exactly what I was thinking at the time, but I’m pretty sure I was annoyed because I am not a patient person when it comes to lines. I often walk out of stores without purchasing items that I intended to buy simply because the line was too long at the cash register. This would save me a lot of money if it were not for the ability to purchase most anything on the internet. However, I could not simply walk away from the line this morning if I wanted to make it through first service with dry pants.

One of the benefits of waiting in line in the women’s restroom at church is that you can often strike up short conversations with the women near you in the line. On this particular morning, I was standing near my Bible study leader.

She said to me, “Teri, I see you at church all the time, so I must have seen you before I knew you. So I wonder how many people I see now that I don’t know yet.”

When I finally made it out of the restroom and to my seat in the sanctuary, I pondered the words of my Bible study leader.

“Wow!” I said to myself. “Who knew that such a profound statement could be found in the women’s restroom?”

I wondered how many people I see that I don’t know yet. It put me in mind of the two travelers on the road to Emmaus. They were dejected after Jesus was put to death on the cross. When Jesus joined them on their walk, they saw Him, but they did not know Him. How many times did I see Jesus before I knew Him? I saw Him everywhere, but I didn’t know Him.

Only after the two travelers on the road to Emmaus spent time talking and listening to Jesus, was He revealed to them. Luke 24:31 describes this:

“Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.”

Suddenly these two travelers were able to see Jesus because the power of His Word gave them spiritual sight. He then vanished from their sight, but He was not gone. Although they could no longer physically see Jesus, He was still walking in their midst.

Don’t see without knowing. Jesus also walks in our midst. If we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us in the study of His Word, we will not only see Him everywhere, but we will know Him.