The Story's Not Over Yet. . .

So I had a blog all prepared to share with you today, and the Holy Spirit stopped me – He has something else to say, and I believe this is a word for someone reading this.

I was reminded of the story of Lazarus in John 11.  Lazarus, a close friend to Jesus, had become very ill, close to death.  His sisters, Mary and Martha, sent a message to Jesus saying, “Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick” (John 11:3)

“Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  So when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was” (John 11:5-6).

Um…that doesn’t’ really make sense, does it?  It’s clear that Jesus loved this family.  And so His prompt response to their request. . .is to wait another couple of days before He goes to their house.   That doesn’t sound like Jesus responding with care to someone He clearly loved dearly, does it?

When Jesus finally comes, Mary is at her brother’s tomb crying.  She is completely heartbroken.  Her first words to Him – and I can hear the emotion, even the accusing tone in her words, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died (v. 32).

Jesus could have come right away and saved Lazarus’ life.  He could have but spoken a word and Lazarus would’ve been healed.  Why did Jesus wait to go to this friend that he loved?

He waited for one reason – He was about to show the glory of God.  If you go back to verse 15, Jesus says, “And I am glad for your sakes that I was not here, that you may believe.”  Jesus knew He was going to show up on the scene and work a miracle – Lazarus would not be dead for long.  The glories of heaven were about to intersect the brokenness of earth!

But do you know what I find even more amazing than this miracle of raising a dead man to life?  The fact that Jesus, who had purposefully stayed away, who knew He was going to work a  miracle that would bring overwhelming joy to this family, cared for the hurt these sisters were experiencing in the meantime.  The shortest verse in the Bible is, in fact, the verse that cries the loudest with His love.  John 11:35 simply says, “Jesus wept.”  He saw Mary and Martha’s pain, the hurt of the friends and family who had gathered, and He cried with them.

Our God, who knows the beautiful purposes of resurrected life He is working in us, cares deeply about our hurt.  He cries when we cry, He hurts when we hurt, He cares when we don’t understand why He stays away, even when we’ve asked Him to come.

Friends, I know that there are those of you, like us, who are facing intense times of pain and loss.  The grieving is thick.  The answers are few.  We feel like Mary felt – if Jesus had just come earlier, things wouldn’t be as they are.  We wouldn’t be facing death in our relationships, finances, circumstances. 

We want to encourage you to “have it out” with God.  Say to Him the things you may have tried to hold in – the accusations you may feel, the hurt you may have toward Him for not coming sooner and intervening in your situation.  Jesus doesn’t rebuke Mary for her accusation.  He feels her hurt with her and weeps with these people who have lost a beloved brother and friend.

Let’s be honest – we have all tried to muster up faith and hope on our own.  It will last about as long as the rest of the day or until the next trial hits.  That’s not what God wants for us.

Instead, we must linger in the presence of Jesus.  He will bring comfort to us.  Isaiah 53 reminds us that Jesus was a “man of sorrows, acquainted with grief”.  He gets it and wants to speak to your heart.  He will give us faith and renewed hope that is born out of our time spent with Him, not something we conjure up in our own emotion.

And the promise that we must cling to is that Jesus comes to bring resurrected life to our dead places.  Just as He did for Lazarus, He will do for us today.  We cannot allow the circumstances that we see to have the final word.  Lazarus did die – that actually happened.  That was the reality of the story.  But it was not the end of the story.  And death and loss are not the end of our stories, either.  The story's not over yet. . .