A few weeks ago, towards the end of the summer break, while considering new post ideas and reading my Bible, the story of Jesus bringing Lazarus back to life, sprung to mind. The next hurdle I had to leap over was to think of a message inside this story, to tell you today. The message within this post is one of truth, reflection and hope. Hope that everything will turn out ok in the end because God has an amazing plan.
We find out quite important information about Lazarus in the first few verses of the story, located in John 11. John tells us he is the “Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.” We also find out that Mary whose brother is “Lazarus, now lay sick.” However not all is lost, as Mary knows very well that Jesus had healed many people, prior to Lazarus falling ill.
However, the next thing that happens, can teach us as Christians a big lesson. The messenger who had been sent by Lazarus’s sisters said to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” Jesus then says something that the messengers which is not what we expect. “His sickness won’t result in death. No, it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God will receive glory through it.” But we know that Lazarus’s sisters must have been horrified to hear that Jesus, firstly wasn’t going to save Lazarus from this life threatening illness and secondly that “he stayed where he was two more days”.
Days later Jesus said to his disciples “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up. His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” Jesus meant that Lazarus was dead, but the disciples thought Jesus meant that Lazarus was only sleeping.” When Jesus finally arrived, Lazarus was already in the tomb and unusually Jesus says to them that he was “glad that he wasn’t there so that you can grow in faith”. Next, he asks the sister to lead him to Lazarus.
“On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.” In case you hadn’t already realized and as I said at the start, this story is one of hope. The succeeding event in this story, gives us hope that God has one epic plan for our lives and that we can fully trust in him. “Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”…The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.”
The message I would like to share with you from this passage, is that if you ask the Lord for something in prayer, don’t expect it to happen instantly. If it doesn’t happen when you want it, trust that God has a better plan. God doesn’t care what your age or gender is, he has a plan for you. Even if you can only see a snapshot of the plan, the Lord if in control of the whole picture.
What is the #1 (the most important) thing in your life currently? If you make Jesus #1 in your life, build a strong relationship with him and talk to him often, the more you will be able to trust and rely on him. It wasn’t that Jesus didn’t love Lazarus, he just had to finish what God had told him to do and then trust that when he reached Lazarus, God would have a plan to bring him back to life.
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RCG 