“Where is God”
It was one of those crooked kind of days when Jesus closes friends Martha and Mary sent word to Him that their brother was deathly ill (John 11:3). Their emotions must have run the gamut between fear and hope as they wiped Lazarus’s brow and waited for the Lord to come. Then all would be well.
Lazarus must have thought the same. They’d all heard of and witnessed so many of Jesus compassionate, miraculous healing. With just one touch, He made the lame to walk and the blind to see. And with just one word, He’d even healed people from a far.( Matt. 8:13; 15:28)
Yet as Lazarus’s sickness worsened, his concern must have too. And it was likely his sisters were dependent on him as the only male in their immediate family. If he died, what would happen to Martha and Mary? and then Jesus chose not to come. He actually waited, instead of immediately hurrying to Bethany to restore His friend’s health. The confusion must have anguished Lazarus as time ran out. He must of wonder, “Does Jesus really love us as much as we love Him?”
Such questions tend to haunt us on crooked days, when answers to prayer feels a million miles away. Here is the crucial questions we must all answer as we stand before the impossible. Will we believe or let the fog of pain obliterate our sense of God’s presence in our lives? Will we trust Him no matter what or give into disillusionment and doubt? Will we choose faith in God over faith in an outcome?
Until we allow God to be God, we act as if He is our servant and are sure to be disappointed in the consequences of such delusion. If we fail to surrender our agendas, wish lists, and our master plans to Him, we’ll never see Christ as He truly is, or personally experience Him as our resurrection and life.
Lazarus must have thought the same. They’d all heard of and witnessed so many of Jesus compassionate, miraculous healing. With just one touch, He made the lame to walk and the blind to see. And with just one word, He’d even healed people from a far.( Matt. 8:13; 15:28)
Yet as Lazarus’s sickness worsened, his concern must have too. And it was likely his sisters were dependent on him as the only male in their immediate family. If he died, what would happen to Martha and Mary? and then Jesus chose not to come. He actually waited, instead of immediately hurrying to Bethany to restore His friend’s health. The confusion must have anguished Lazarus as time ran out. He must of wonder, “Does Jesus really love us as much as we love Him?”
Such questions tend to haunt us on crooked days, when answers to prayer feels a million miles away. Here is the crucial questions we must all answer as we stand before the impossible. Will we believe or let the fog of pain obliterate our sense of God’s presence in our lives? Will we trust Him no matter what or give into disillusionment and doubt? Will we choose faith in God over faith in an outcome?
Until we allow God to be God, we act as if He is our servant and are sure to be disappointed in the consequences of such delusion. If we fail to surrender our agendas, wish lists, and our master plans to Him, we’ll never see Christ as He truly is, or personally experience Him as our resurrection and life.
Comments
You should always recognize the difference between what you see Jesus to be and what He has done for you. If you see only what He has done for you, your God is not big enough. But if you have had a vision, seeing Jesus as He really is, experiences can come and go, yet you will endure “as seeing Him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27). The man who was blind from birth did not know who Jesus was until Christ appeared and revealed Himself to him (see John 9). Jesus appears to those for whom He has done something, but we cannot order or predict when He will come. He may appear suddenly, at any turn. Then you can exclaim, “Now I see Him!” (see John 9:25).
Jesus must appear to you and to your friend individually; no one can see Jesus with your eyes. And division takes place when one has seen Him and the other has not. You cannot bring your friend to the point of seeing; God must do it. Have you seen Jesus? If so, you will want others to see Him too. “And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either” (Mark 16:13). When you see Him, you must tell, even if they don’t believe.
"It is not on what we spend the greatest amount of time that molds us the most, but whatever exerts the most power over us. "