The Spirit calls me this morning to talk things over. Hope like Lazarus has died. Nothing is turning out like I had hoped. I am in a place like Martha and Mary mourning the death of hope for that is what was placed in the tomb beside the body of their beloved brother, Lazarus.
While he was sick, the sisters sent word to Jesus to come quickly for Lazarus was in desperate need of a healing. The women were watching as their brother slipped into death, helpless yet hopeful that if only Jesus would come, Lazarus would be brought back from the abyss of this sickness and restored to health so that life with his family would go on.
Scripture says in John 11:5, "Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, yet when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was two more days". Then in vs. 17, scripture tells us, "On His arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days." This delay had nothing to do with any lack of love for them.
Martha and Mary were beside themselves with grief, shock, and despair at the loss of their brother. The awful truth was that Jesus did not arrive in time to "heal" him. The sisters had knowledge that Jesus was a healer. They had a personal relationship with Him and even sent word saying "Lord, the one you love is sick".
What they could not see nor comprehend at that moment, was His plan to work a profound miracle and testimony into the fabric of their lives that would make the history books for all eternity. Their perspective was limited and their view short sighted. They had known Jesus to be healer and that was the limit of their expectation to date.
The Holy One speaks to me, "You are like them. You trust Me now, for what you have seen or experienced Me doing in the past, but not for the higher, bigger, more outrageous things that you have not seen nor experienced before. Life will always provide opportunities for the faithful to go past what they know about Me to the higher levels of greater miracles."
But Lord, at what point in the disaster that forms the stage for the miraculous is THE turning point? Lazarus died and hope died with him. Jesus, you arrived but Lazarus was still dead.
The Spirit speaks, "Read on My child".
Martha went out to meet Jesus. When she heard He was coming, Martha went out.
In her grief, she went out to meet Jesus.
In her mourning, she went out to meet Jesus.
In her heartache, she went out to meet Jesus.
Martha went out to declare her faith, and not just in what she believed was a lost opportunity to see Jesus do what He had done for others as in heal her brother. Martha's next words conveyed her desire to take yet another step further in her faith in Jesus, "But I know that even now, God will give you whatever you ask."
Martha recognized and affirmed that Jesus was the Gateway to God. She declared her belief that Jesus was the Great Intercessor, and that God, who governs life and death would give Jesus whatever He asked.
Then those incredible words hit her ears, Jesus said, "I AM, the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live even though he dies. And whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
Finally, Martha understood the true identity of the one before whom she was standing. She discovered that Jesus is God. "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who was to come into the world.
In that moment, her hope was revived. Hope was resurrected before her brother. On that day, the tomb was emptied of all that it held, her brother and her hope.
What in your life lies in the tomb of death and alongside of it, your hope? I know what it was in my life today.
When faced with the impossible things. When death occurs and mourning takes over, will we be like Martha and go out to meet Jesus? Will we run to Him for comfort and understanding and to take that next step further in faith in Him?
The Holy Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
While he was sick, the sisters sent word to Jesus to come quickly for Lazarus was in desperate need of a healing. The women were watching as their brother slipped into death, helpless yet hopeful that if only Jesus would come, Lazarus would be brought back from the abyss of this sickness and restored to health so that life with his family would go on.
Scripture says in John 11:5, "Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, yet when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was two more days". Then in vs. 17, scripture tells us, "On His arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days." This delay had nothing to do with any lack of love for them.
Martha and Mary were beside themselves with grief, shock, and despair at the loss of their brother. The awful truth was that Jesus did not arrive in time to "heal" him. The sisters had knowledge that Jesus was a healer. They had a personal relationship with Him and even sent word saying "Lord, the one you love is sick".
What they could not see nor comprehend at that moment, was His plan to work a profound miracle and testimony into the fabric of their lives that would make the history books for all eternity. Their perspective was limited and their view short sighted. They had known Jesus to be healer and that was the limit of their expectation to date.
The Holy One speaks to me, "You are like them. You trust Me now, for what you have seen or experienced Me doing in the past, but not for the higher, bigger, more outrageous things that you have not seen nor experienced before. Life will always provide opportunities for the faithful to go past what they know about Me to the higher levels of greater miracles."
But Lord, at what point in the disaster that forms the stage for the miraculous is THE turning point? Lazarus died and hope died with him. Jesus, you arrived but Lazarus was still dead.
The Spirit speaks, "Read on My child".
Martha went out to meet Jesus. When she heard He was coming, Martha went out.
In her grief, she went out to meet Jesus.
In her mourning, she went out to meet Jesus.
In her heartache, she went out to meet Jesus.
Martha went out to declare her faith, and not just in what she believed was a lost opportunity to see Jesus do what He had done for others as in heal her brother. Martha's next words conveyed her desire to take yet another step further in her faith in Jesus, "But I know that even now, God will give you whatever you ask."
Martha recognized and affirmed that Jesus was the Gateway to God. She declared her belief that Jesus was the Great Intercessor, and that God, who governs life and death would give Jesus whatever He asked.
Then those incredible words hit her ears, Jesus said, "I AM, the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live even though he dies. And whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
Finally, Martha understood the true identity of the one before whom she was standing. She discovered that Jesus is God. "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who was to come into the world.
In that moment, her hope was revived. Hope was resurrected before her brother. On that day, the tomb was emptied of all that it held, her brother and her hope.
What in your life lies in the tomb of death and alongside of it, your hope? I know what it was in my life today.
When faced with the impossible things. When death occurs and mourning takes over, will we be like Martha and go out to meet Jesus? Will we run to Him for comfort and understanding and to take that next step further in faith in Him?
The Holy Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
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