How does one recover from a great hope turned into a great disappointment?
For the many Millerite Christians who believed that Jesus was coming again on October 22nd, this was their last day on earth. Many quite their jobs, ignored harvesting their crops and made provisions to be ready to meet their LORD. When the day dawned, and the hours passed by, many gave up gazing into the heavens. For all, this disappointment was life-altering; some denounced Christianity altogether, some returned to their past religious persuasions, but some were troubled. Among the troubled ones was Mr. Hiram Edson.
On October 23rd 1844, in the midst of his heartache, as Edson was on his way to encourage other heartbroken believers, he got a vision that revived hope in him. He was made to see Jesus in the Heavenly Sanctuary, and understood where they had gone wrong in their belief in His return. After studying their bibles and confirming what was seen, Edson with two of his friends were already planning to publish their findings. Within a year, the doctrine involving the truth about Christ’s atoning work in the Sanctuary was already in newspapers circulating the Northeast (please read our full presentation on Hiram Edson here).
In the midst of our darkest moments, Jesus shines His light. He ever seeks to lift us up when we are down and hurting. As painful as their lot had been, those who continued to diligently seek Him found Him. In fact, He has promised this very thing in His Word (Jeremiah 29:13 “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart”).
When it comes to hurt, loss, sickness and anguish, we may never get the “why” questions answered, but we can rest assured that we have a Creator that is intimately acquainted with our grief and won’t give us more than we can bear. The saints of old got encouragement the day after their heartbreak, we can too.