devotion: faith when things don't work out

October 6th

Faith Trials

¹Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ²This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. ³So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick."
⁴When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it." ⁵Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.
⁷Then he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea."
⁸"But Rabbi," they said, "a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there?"
⁹Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world's light. ¹⁰It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light."
¹¹After he had said this, he went on to tell them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up."
¹²His disciples replied, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better." ¹³Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
¹⁴So then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, ¹⁵and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."
¹⁶Then Thomas (called Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him."
Jesus Comforts the Sisters
¹⁷On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. ¹⁸Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, ¹⁹and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. ²⁰When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
²¹"Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²²But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask."
²³Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."
²⁴Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."
²⁵Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; ²⁶and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
²⁷"Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."
²⁸And after she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. "The Teacher is here," she said, "and is asking for you." ²⁹When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. ³⁰Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. ³¹When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
³²When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."
³³When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. ³⁴"Where have you laid him?" he asked.
"Come and see, Lord," they replied.
³⁵Jesus wept.
³⁶Then the Jews said, "See how he loved him!"
³⁷But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"
Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead
³⁸Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. ³⁹"Take away the stone," he said.
"But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days."
⁴⁰Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"
⁴¹So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴²I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me."
⁴³When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" ⁴⁴The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go." John 11:1-44 NIV

As I read this story during a recent Quiet Time, I noticed how Jesus was deeply moved when he saw Mary weeping. Mary was the one who anointed Jesus’ feet with costly perfume and wiped them with her hair (John 12). She was also the one who made it top priority to sit and listen to Jesus’ teaching when he visited their home (Luke 10). Though Jesus loved both Martha and Mary, we can see a marked difference in how he responded to each sister when he came to town after Lazarus’ death. Jesus questioned Martha about her faith, but when Mary came to him, he was “deeply moved in spirit and troubled” (33). The bystanders thought Jesus was crying because he loved Lazarus, but I suspect he was crying for a different reason.

Jesus had been following his Father’s instructions and knew that Lazarus would die and then be raised from the dead so that God would be glorified (4). He knew that the event would also inspire many people to place their faith in him, including the disciples. And so, with that knowledge, he tarried and Lazarus died.

Arriving in Lazarus’ village, Jesus was confronted with the human side of his decision to follow the Father’s will. The contrast between his exchange with Martha and Mary suggests to me that he was connecting with Mary because of her depth of faith and the pain that she was no doubt experiencing. Mary had the kind of faith that God wants all of us to have. It was a simple, childlike faith that took priority in her life over things like money and household chores. Having this kind of deep faith can be powerfully rewarding, however it also carries higher risk with it. The risk is that we will be more deeply affected when things don’t work out the way we expect.

Those of us who have taken some leaps of faith for God in life may be able to best identify with Mary. She had believed in Jesus and asked him to come to heal her brother. As the sickness took its toll on Lazarus, we can surmise that Jesus’ delayed arrival was taking its toll on Mary’s emotions. She believed Jesus could heal Lazarus, but what was taking him so long to get there? She was no doubt tempted to get bitter and angry with Jesus for delaying his arrival, but she apparently didn’t. I believe Jesus sensed Mary’s anguish, bewilderment and confusion as she weeped at his feet. He wept, having compassion on this precious one of his Father’s flock, who had faithfully believed. Though he knew that in a moment things would change for her when he raised Lazarus, Jesus empathized with her.

I believe that this story reveals God’s heart toward his precious ones who take leaps of faith in life that don’t quite turn out as they hoped and believed. While we can take comfort in knowing that God is ultimately going to work things out for the best, we perhaps can take greater comfort in knowing that God deeply empathizes with us in the midst of our temporary confusion and bewilderment. Though he sees things from the eternal perspective, he feels the pain we may feel and understands our confusion over why things didn’t work out the way we expected. In such situations, the temptations to become angry and bitter at God may be strong, but following that path will only yield sorrow. If we can hang in there with God alittle longer, even though we may not understand why things happened, I believe we’ll eventually receive understanding about the greater glory that was at work.

Questions for further thought:

When we say that we “trust” Jesus, what does that imply regarding our finite understanding?
During times when we don’t understand what God is doing, what are some truths about God that can help us weather the storm and not give up? (Deuteronomy 32:4, Romans 8:35-39, John 8:29, John 14:18)
What develops in us when we endure the “testing” of our faith and not give up on God? (James 1:2-5)

Prayer:

“Heavenly Father, I praise your name. Thank you for your great love and mercy on me. If I’ve harbored bitterness or anger in my heart toward you, I confess that right now. I forgive you, Lord and now please forgive me for holding those things against you. I trust that you are in control and will not get anxious when things happen that I don’t understand. Please heal my heart from the wounds of the past and especially when things didn’t work out the way I believed they would. Please help me see the greater glory that is at work. I believe in you, Lord, and please help me overcome any unbelief in my heart. Thank you, Father. I receive your love and comfort. I follow you anew today. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

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