I feel like I need to start this post with, "and now for the rest of the story..." Because I didn't tell you the entire story of Lazarus, in fact I left out the most important part. To read the first part click here.
Remember what He said? "The sickness will not end in death. It will become an occasion to show His glory by glorifying His Son." He said it wouldn't end in death but Lazarus was dead, in fact he had been dead for four days. The people of the day believed that someone's spirit lingered for 3 days after death and there was still a chance of reviving them, so when He got there 4 days later the people believed there was no more hope for Lazarus.
On the road back to Bethany, Martha says to Him that "I know he (Lazarus) will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." She had faith enough to believe that He could have healed Lazarus when he was still alive, she had faith that he would one day rise again but she lacked the faith in His powers to change things now. She was in her own wilderness, wandering around without a flash light. She had the moon to help but she was stumbling down the path He had put her on.
I think we are all like that now and again. We set out to do something, we have great faith in Him and in ourselves but then something goes wrong. We send out messengers looking for help. We spend hours on our knees. We hear, "The sickness will not end in death." We keep faith alive for a few more days but then it starts to fade as the ugliness of death stares us in the face. We forget that He too once stared death in the face.
Remember the second part of what He says, "It will become an occasion to show His glory by glorifying His Son." He turns to Martha and tells her to have the stone removed from the tomb. Martha looks at Him funny and says "but Lord the smell." Before she could say another word the stone was rolled back, He called out Lazarus' name and says to come out. In front of a large crowd, Lazarus walks out of his tomb still covered in his funeral attire even after being dead for 4 days.
I can only imagine what the crowd thought as the man they had been mourning stumbled out of his tomb. I wonder what was going through their minds as Mary and Martha began to unwrap Lazarus from his funeral cloths.
I know that we have hindsight because of the Word but a few weeks later He is put to death and even though many saw Lazarus raised from the dead, it seems as though most people were stunned when they find His tomb empty. Again they had faith in what could have been and what will be but not in the here and now.
I know I have spoken a lot about the wilderness, we all wander from time to time, me especially but I believe I have finally found the way out. I've found my faith in the here and now. I know it's taken a while but I have finally been able to grab hold of it. I've been focused on what could be instead of what it actually is. I've been so wrapped up in changing the future, I had forgotten that I still had some walking to do before I got there.
In my last post I talked about surrender, I thought I had surrendered in the past but I never actually completely let go. This time I completely let go, so much so that I feel different. I feel lighter and less burdened. I'm not dragging my burdens behind me any more, so instead of trudging through life, I have started skipping.
You know who skips? Kids skip, they skip because they are worry-free. When you have faith in the here and now, you begin to see things in a new light. You know there is a plan. You know that He has the lead. You really start to believe that you worth more then the sparrows. You start to understand why death sometimes has to come. You look forward to tomorrow and His new mercies.
Skipping is a lot better the trudging. Skipping brings joy whereas trudging bring anxiousness. May I humbly suggest that you surrender whatever it is that you are dragging behind you. Have faith in the here and now and start skipping down the path He has laid out for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment