Today’s Bible reading
John 11: 17-23 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
More thoughts for meditation
It’s interesting to see how the story of Lazarus goes down. He is ill, Jesus decides to wait a few days, but by the time he arrives, Lazarus is dead. The sisters Mary and Martha are crying and mourning. Jesus weeps.
Even though we know what happens at the end of the story, the feelings Mary, Martha and Jesus felt were very real. For a week Mary and Martha were struggling: “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When we face situations in life, our minds automatically turn to reason to fill the gap and ease the pain we are feeling. We want to understand what’s happening and why. The problem with reason is that it offers us false comfort.
The process then, is a series of steps that take us from where we are now to where God wants us to be. We could be waiting to find a spouse, or to find a job that we want. Or go through a divorce, like I did. We want God to rescue us from this situation and we go to Him for a solution when we should be going to God for a relationship. In order to make it out from that valley, we must go through the process of standing with God, letting Him work through us, no matter what is working against us. This is called abiding.
This is the process that makes us rich, and it makes us stronger and more powerful than the enemy. This process, this season, is where we learn to trust God and grow in our faith.
Suggestions for action
Prayer: Holy Spirit, give us patience and strength to stand with you while we are going through the process of waiting for relief.