08/28/2018
Are you in sync with God? Do you ever hear His voice giving you something to do, and then ask Him if He is certain that you should be doing whatever it is? On occasion the Lord can ask us to do things that seem so bizarre, and as a matter of fact appear to defy logic. Why was Jesus asked to tarry until Lazarus had died before He went to Him? Wouldn’t it have been much easier and made more sense to heal Him before he died? God has a purpose and a plan for us, and although it might appear impossible to us, or even unwise, in the end it makes perfect sense.
“So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said “Father, I thank you that you have heard me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”” John 11:41-42 ESV
Lazarus was now dead, and as a matter of fact he had been dead for some four days. The people knew that Jesus was a healer, but no one could raise a man from the dead... and especially one who had been dead for so long that his body should be decomposing! This just didn’t make sense to them! So why did God do it this way? Listen to Jesus as he speaks with His disciples...
““This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”” John 11-4 ESV
And again...
“Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe.” John 11:14-15 ESV
And yet again as He spoke to Martha, the sister of Lazarus...
“Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”” John 11:40
The plan and will of God was never to heal Lazarus, but to glorify Himself, and to increase the faith of the disciples and the others. When we or our loved ones suffer it is for the same reason. We never suffer capriciously... the questions become these... have we listened as God revealed His will to us, do we believe enough to remain within it, and are we prepared to see the glory of God enacted?
I watch missionaries and others answer the call of God, and trust in His will for them enough to step out in faith. Some did this right away, but others had to be convinced first. Faith in those who immediately stepped out was fortified, but faith in those who needed convincing was established, or nursed like an infant. In which of these was God glorified the most? Was His glory exhibited the most in the one who immediately did as he was asked, or in the one in whom God exerted the most effort? How much work do we cause God to put forth before we adopt His will as ours?
Sometimes healing is enough to bolster faith and bring glory to God, but at others a death becomes necessary, and in this case of Lazarus it is more than an example, and a lesson in faith, it is prophetic of the life and death of Jesus. This is an enactment of what is ahead for Jesus, and through Him... for us. When we read the full account of Lazarus we hear Thomas say these words...
“So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”” John 11:16 ESV
God was glorified when Lazarus walked out of his burial cave, but that glory could not hold a candle to what was to come. Jesus knew what lay ahead, and He knew what was being prototyped here; yet He was in perfect step with God’s plan. In His entire life there’s not one account of Jesus being at odds with the will of God. Even in the Garden of Gethsemane when He asked that the cup be taken from Him, He was not questioning the will of God, but just the method of achieving it.
So how is our resolve today? Are we determined to do the will of God even when it looks difficult, odd, or bizarre, to us? When we are in prayer and God’s will is revealed do we question Him, or ask repeatedly if we heard Him right? Do we make the Lord go to great lengths to convince us, or bolster our faith? Is our heart circumcised and tender enough to feel the slightest movement of His will? Are we prepared to glorify Him despite the method, or hardship required? Is God’s Will ours, or are we still trying to live by our own will alone? Syncing ourselves, and our desires to God’s perfect will is paramount to our walk of faith... so we ask ourselves repeatedly, “How am I doing today?”
Prayer:
Father I thank you for the plan you have for my life, and your will that leads me through it. Help me to place my own will and desire in subjugation to yours Holy Father, and give me enough strength of faith that I can answer “Yea” and “Here am I.” I am not knowledgeable and wise enough to see the end as you do Lord, but I trust in you and know that you are good, and that your will for me is thus equally good. As I look towards these things you would have me do, let me not ask how, or if this is possible, but step boldly forward knowing that you will make a way, and that in you all things are possible. I might experience hardship, pain, or even death, but all of these fall prostrate before you, and none has power over me as I walk with Jesus Christ. Lead me on Holy Spirit, and walk the way of righteousness with me Lord Jesus; help me as I honor the will of the Father with all I am. My God is Gracious, and glorious... Holy, Holy, Holy is He and perfect His will always. Implant my will within yours Father so that it might grow to be part and parcel of yours, and glorify you forever.
Rich Forbes