This Sunday in church the message was on the first part of John 11, the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead. Not only does this story show the power and providence of God, but there is much more to learn from it. Although Ive read this story before, I didn't just take things at face value this time. So as the story goes, Jesus-Healer of the Multitudes, hears that His good friend, Lazarus is sick.Yet He does not immediately go to heal him. After two days Jesus tells His disciples of His plans to go to Lazarus; the same place where the Jews tried to kill Him. The disciples react in the same way most would, asking Him if He would really go back to a place where people wanted Him dead. (Not to mention that they weren't all to welcoming to His closest followers.) Sometimes I have the same reaction, thinking surely God wouldn't want me to do that; its crazy! But God had a plan for Jesus and has one for me and I can't think of a better place to be other than in His plan. Still oftentimes we don't really know what God is saying to us, and we aren't the only ones. The disciples, who walked with Jesus, didn't understand Him at times. Like when Jesus said He was going to wake Lazarus up because he had fallen asleep. The disciples, mistaking Jesus for talking about normal sleep, couldn't figure out why He didn't want the sick man to get his rest. Then Jesus was like, no you got it all wrong, the man is dead! Oftentimes we don't like what God is doing or we don't understand His plan. Sometimes we want to run the other direction, but we must learn to have faith in God even when we don't want to follow His plan. I love what the next verses tell us doubting Thomas says; “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” I don't know if there is a bit of sarcasm in this or not, but the point is that is spite of the danger, they still know it is best to be with Jesus.
And so they go to where the body was laid to rest. As soon as they get there Martha, the grieving sister of Lazarus, says something else we can learn from. Martha says, "If you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” It's painful to lose anyone close to you and and Martha was no exception. She wished her brother would have gotten better, but she didn't loose her faith in God, and still she trusted in His plan. It's easy to trust in God when life is good and going your way, but life isn't always easy. Bad things happen and we get called to do hard things, but it's the faith and trust that last through the hard things that's worth working for.
Another example can be taken from the people who were there to mourn. Jesus asked them to remove the rock that was used to seal off Lazarus' tomb, a tomb that would now have the smell of death in it. Jesus could have told the rock itself to move, but again that wasn't the plan. He made an opportunity of faith for the people there; remove the stone or walk away. God gives us opportunity like that too. Sometimes it's something extreme that will test our faith to its limits, and sometimes it's as simple as praying for others. God doesn't NEED people to be missionaries; He gives us the opportunity to fulfill his plan. We should be like the people who in the end moved the stone so that God's power could be displayed. What if the people in the story wouldn't have moved the stone? Perhaps God wouldn't have raised the dead man, or maybe the people just would have given up the opportunity to be used by God. I may have fear and doubt, but am I willing to sit on the sidelines and not be used by God? Or will I let my faith take over, move myself out of the way and let God do something amazing? Some days I'm ready to give up praying for my lost family members, feeling hopeless, but who knows the plans of God? Maybe He will one day use me to reach them with His love? We should always be ready to drop everything and do what ever it is God is asking us to do, something easier said than done.
