When Something Dies

 

When Something Dies

 

Learning to trust the Lord and know that He has my best interest in mind has been one of the hardest lessons for me to personally overcome. I can't tell you how often I have tried to "work" things out on my own when I thought that God had let me down. To be honest, I don't really trust myself to trust in the Lord. Like Mary and Martha, I knew Jesus was the answer to my pressing dilemma's but I never understood why He allowed those things that were closest to me to pass away, whether it was a personal possession, a dream, or even a person.

Why do we fail to trust God when times get tough? Why do we have this built-in mode of defying God when all hell seems to break loose on earth in our individual lives? Think about that as you read this story:

¹ Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. ² It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. ³ Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."
⁴ When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."
⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was...¹⁴ Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵ And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him."
¹⁶ Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him."... ¹⁷ So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸ Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles^[a] away. ¹⁹ And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.
²⁰ Now Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. ²¹ Now Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You."
²³ Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." ³² Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."
³³ Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. ³⁴ And He said, "Where have you laid him?"
They said to Him, "Lord, come and see."
³⁵ Jesus wept. Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. ³⁹ Jesus said, "Take away the stone."
Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days."
⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" ⁴¹ Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying.^[d] And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. ⁴² And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me." ⁴³ Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!" ⁴⁴ And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go."... Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him. (Portions from John 11)

Martha and Mary were distraught. They were in their deepest hour of need and they thought that Jesus had forgotten about them. Where was their healer, Jesus? Like they said, if He would have came Lazarus would have lived; none of this drama and heartache would have been necessary. Why was Jesus waiting to come to Lazarus if he was supposedly the remedy for his illness? Why was He waiting if He loved Lazarus like He said He did? WHY?...WHY?...WHY?

Oh, but what we don't see coming...God does!

Everyone knew Jesus as healer. (see above passage)

They knew Jesus as teacher. (see above passage)

But God was ready to entrust them with a deeper revelation of His Son. No longer was He just a good teacher that went about healing all who were sick. Now, Jesus was able to demonstrate power over the ultimate enemy-death.

Have you ever turned to God in anger and wondered why He was delaying what you know He could handle?

Have you ever wondered why He allowed something in your life to die?

Where would you be if he had come along when you wanted Him to? 

No one can answer that last question. But here is where trust comes in. We must trust that God has our best interest in mind. Look at the above story. Here are a few missing details. First, the Jews did not accept a person's death until they had seen no life in them for at least three days. Jesus had to wait to come to Lazarus on the fourth day for at least two specific reasons:

• 1. Had Jesus came earlier He would have merely healed Lazarus. He would not have been revealed as the "life giver."
• 2. Jesus had to wait until the fourth day. If He hadn't He would have fulfilled a prophecy. The Old Testament said that Christ would be resurrected on the third day. Waiting until the fourth day was the first feasible time He could have come.

There have been so many times in my life when I wanted to just stomp my feet, and raise my fist to heaven and exclaim that I had been cheated by a God I claimed to trust. Sadly, I had not learned that I was not operating in trust at all, but a first instinct of fear and then anger--typical behavior for humans in crisis.

I know that it is a challenge. It will be the hardest thing in this life...to trust in God completely and know that His plan is "working out for good for those that love Him." (Rom. 8:28).

We must be careful to understand that if God wants to heal our situation that He will heal it if it is in our plan for good.  If He wants to, He can raise our dead situation to life again...if it is for our good.  

Notice in the above passage that God not only revealed Himself as the life giver, but also came at just the right time so the Jews would "believe" in Him. Our situation is much more about God than it is about us.

I have had to repent before the Lord for not getting what I wanted when I wanted it. I had to apologize to God for acting like I knew what was best for me in my life.

What about you? What are you trying to hang on to?

What are you holding God responsible for?

What has died that you want back so badly that you have turned your back on a God that wants nothing more than to have a relationship with you that is closer than anyone or anything?

Why not take a moment to thank God for all that He has done in working it out for good for you.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice...He will not forsake you... Deuteronomy 4:30, 31 NKJV

If you would like a more detailed examination of why God allows His people to suffer in this life, you may access a 20-page article here: www.unpopulartruth.org/badthings.html