Faith Beyond Belief

A few months back, my beautiful wife, Jen wrote a blog on the story of Jesus raising Lazarus back to life found in John 11. In that blog, she brought attention to the actual miracle itself and spoke of how God can resurrect things in our lives that have died and how He cares for our hurts and pain in the midst of that death – even when that death will ultimately be used to bring about a miracle of resurrected life!

I wanted to take a moment and revisit that same passage of scripture but with a different focus. Many of us are very familiar with the story itself: Lazarus, a friend of Jesus becomes sick and ultimately dies. His two sisters, Mary and Martha, send word to Jesus about their brother’s physical predicament in hopes that He can come and heal his ailment. Jesus receives word of the need and deliberately stays away a few extra days until Lazarus ultimately dies and then comes to Bethany to meet the sisters. The sisters, family and friends are perplexed by Jesus’ lack of response and share their opinions on what could have happened if Jesus had only arrived sooner. Then Jesus surprises everyone and raises Lazarus back to life.

As I reread this scripture the Lord was drawing my attention to three particular verses/responses from each of the main ‘players’ – Martha, Mary and the gathered crowd of mourners. The overwhelming theme that captured my attention in each of the responses was a strong sense of BELIEF in the power and person of Jesus Christ but with a limited FAITH based on current circumstances and present understanding. Allow me to show you what I mean as we look at each of the responses:

“When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him… “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.” (John 11: 20-21).

“When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at His feet and said, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.” (John 11: 32).

“The people who were standing nearby said… “This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?” (John 11: 36b-37).

Each of the responses has the same proclamation - the complete belief that Jesus was fully capable of healing Lazarus from this sickness. In fact there seems to be no doubt that if He had arrived just a few days sooner this death would have never happened. Even the on-lookers seem to have the same unwavering belief that Jesus had the ability to save Lazarus from death!

What I am amazed at, and where I find myself in the story, is that this same cast of characters who profess the BELIEF in Jesus’ ability to heal Lazarus from sickness also have a clear limit of FAITH that considered there was another possibility.  They believed Lazarus’ death meant that all was lost. 

They have the courage to believe that Jesus can heal and perform miracles because they have seen them with their own eyes and have heard the accounts from others. However, in their humanity, there were limits to Jesus’ power. They can believe in the supernatural but only when it involves the manipulation of the natural – a withered hand made straight, a sick person made well, a blind man receiving sight. But this was different. This miracle stretched beyond the natural and moved outside the realm of understanding. It never occurred to them that Jesus was taking that which was dead and bringing it back to life.

How many times do we do the same thing? Do we put limits on what Jesus can accomplish in our lives? I know that I am incredibly guilty of this in my own life. I am able to muster enough faith and belief to see God work a miracle but only up to a point. Only up to the place where I can still comprehend and still see how God could make that work. Although it might be a mental stretch for me to understand but as long as I can still see the dots (no matter how faint) that God is connecting then I can believe and have faith. But is that really faith?

The challenge for us is to surrender our desire to understand and submit to the greatness of our God! After all, Scripture tell us, “As high as the heavens are from the earth, so My ways are higher then yours”. And if I truly believe that statement, then I must come to the conclusion that even if God explained himself to me I still would not get it.

We must learn to let go of our humanity and let God work without obstruction. Surrender our human way of thinking and allow the Lord to function without limits and beyond our comprehension.

The goal is for a faith that moves beyond belief and trusts that God can truly do anything. Let my prayer become like that of the father who was asking the Lord to heal his demoniac son, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief”.  Let my circumstances and humanity not become a limit to what God can accomplish.

During this prolonged season of unemployment I have found myself putting limits on God and my sense of belief based on what I can “see” in front of me. As long as there were jobs to apply for and websites to search then there was ‘hope’ and ‘possibility’ on the horizon and therefore God could move at any moment. This was opposed to the days when the listings were thin and the opportunities were nil, which made me feel God was far away and the possibility of the miraculous was gone. All along, I have wanted God to provide a job for us – but He has chosen to give us provision in numerous other ways, most I would never have thought to even consider.  And yet, His provision has been miraculous and faithful!

Where in my life do I need to remove the limits or boundaries that I place around God? Where do I need to surrender my beliefs and allow faith to move beyond them to accomplish God’s purpose? No matter what I believe about God, He is more and greater than I can possibly conceive of, comprehend or even imagine.

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

Have you ever seen the amazing, giant redwoods trees that grow here in California?  They are majestic and beautiful – I think God was showing of when He made them!  They grow up to 300 feet, powerful and strong. 

Did you know that redwood trees never grow alone?  Though a redwood may grow to 300 feet in height, its roots do not grow deep they grow outward - up to 900 feet out!  So if a redwood tree was alone, the storms and wind that come would surely uproot it and blow it over, because the roots don’t go down deeply enough to keep it in the ground.

So instead of growing in solitary places, redwood trees grow close together, in groves.  Their outgrowing roots intertwine with the roots of the other trees in the grove, giving them a solid stability underground that will withstand any wind or storm that may come.  

We have now been facing unemployment for 16 months.  In that time, though we have experienced much wind and many storms, we were already planted in an amazing grove of strong people – a community of believers.  Our roots were already intertwined with theirs, making us strong, even when we have felt weak.  This community has been our lifeline during this season.  They have given us an incredible amount of love, care and provision.

There are been those who have listened to our pain, cried with us, hugged us, been there when the days were dark.  There are people who reached out because the Lord put us on their hearts and they just wanted us to know they were there and praying.  There are those who spoke prophetic words or encouragement to us, reminding us that this is a season and will not last forever.  These family and friends have been an extension of the heart of God to us.

In addition to the powerful spiritual support, we have also experienced an incredible amount of practical blessing from our community, as well.  People have generously given to us from their own finances.  They have blessed us with groceries and gifts.  When we were doing garage sales to raise money, they donated items for us to sell.  And they have not just given to our “needs” – they have also provided for delightful moments of reprieve – a pedicure, taking us out to lunch or dinner, enabling us to go to Disneyland, gifts where we were told to “buy something for yourself, don’t spend this on a bill”!  We have been completely overwhelmed by their generosity and care and we are so extremely grateful for all they have done.  Words cannot fully express our thankfulness.

There is no doubt that if we had not been surrounded closely by such strong, godly people, we would have absolutely been decimated by the storms of the last few years.  But God has so faithfully sustained us and provided these “strong trees” of support that have surrounded us on every side.  We are beyond grateful for them.  We are buoyed by their love.  We are humbled by their support. 

We have learned that when we are facing difficult times, the tendency is to become isolated.  That’s just what the enemy wants!  Part of the reason that we felt the support of our community is because we decided that we would humble ourselves and ask for help.  There are times when it wasn’t easy to reach out.  Times when it felt embarrassing.  But if we had not reached out, we would not have been blessed by their prayers and encouragement, would not have received the blessings that they so generously gave.

If you are in a storm right now, we encourage you to reach out for help!  Galatians 6:2 says, “Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.”  We are so grateful for those who have carried our burdens and we also want to carry others, too.   If you aren’t sure who to reach out to, we are here!  Please message us on our Facebook page and know that we are committed to praying with you through whatever season you are facing.  God wants to bless you through His people.  It’s worth the risk to reach out!

Carried To Jesus

For those of you who saw our Facebook post last week and prayed for us - thank you!!  We are so grateful for those who help carry us through this journey.  We were so glad we can join in prayer for those of you who shared your needs with us, too.  It is a powerful thing to know that we are not alone and can walk through life's difficulties together.

A few months ago, I was facing a really painful time and called out to my friends for help.  What I'm sharing below is what I posted on Facebook shortly after that time.  I hope it encourages you to reach out to others when you are feeling weak or in need - Jesus created us to live life together and encourage one another in Him! 

"He was teaching the Word. They brought a paraplegic to him, carried by four men. When they weren’t able to get in because of the crowd, they removed part of the roof and lowered the paraplegic on his stretcher. Impressed by their bold belief, Jesus said to the paraplegic, 'Son, I forgive your sins.'" Mark 2:4-5

I have had an emotionally crippling few days in the last week. I felt like I had reached the end of my ability to have faith and hope in God. And like the crippled man in the story above, I too had some faith-filled friends who carried me before Jesus when I couldn't get there myself. They prayed and believed for me when I couldn't do it. And Jesus must've been impressed with their bold belief too, because a miracle thing started to happen - hope began to rise in my heart again. Jesus forgave my unbelief because my friends carried me before Him and He touched my faithless heart.

When you can't take one more step on your own, call out to faithful, godly friends who will carry you before Jesus. I am amazed at the incredible women God has placed in my life! God has done a deep work in me. . .because of my friends. I am so deeply grateful!