Today I went home and got to hear Doug Fields speak at my home church, which was such a gift. The message was especially good so I’m gonna share some good thoughts from it slash my thoughts with you.
we all have a desperate prayer for something.
maybe you have a broken friendship and want to see that fixed. maybe you really want to get plugged into a church. maybe you really want your dad come to know Christ. maybe you really want God to tell you what you’re supposed to do with your life. maybe you really want to get into a certain college. or maybe you got in and you really want God to make it happen for you financially somehow.
whatever your prayer is, that’s okay.
Doug told the story from John 11 about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. One day Jesus hears from a messenger that Mary and Martha sent that their brother, Lazarus, is really sick and they ask Jesus to come immediately and help him.
But Jesus decides to wait two whole days to head over there, and by the time he gets there, Lazarus had been dead for four days. Then Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. That’s the basic gist of the story.
Jesus’ timing seems a little bit funky. Couldn’t Jesus have just come when Mary and Martha wanted Him to? then they wouldn’t have been put through such grief and things would be way easier, right? Well, I’m learning that God doesn’t do things to make life easy for us. He does them so we can see Him and the He can be glorified. Okay okay, that’s good but what does that mean for us? What does it mean while we are sitting, confused and waiting, wanting answers?
This is frustrating, there is no denying that. I think we have to ask ourselves, “am i really trusting Jesus with this?”
Real trust is to trust in His timing. We stop trusting when we put a time limit on what we are asking of God. When we don’t trust God, we don’t give Him the space to move in our lives. To walk with Jesus, we must trust the pace of His walk. And we must trust that He is loving us through it. He has never stopped loving you in your waiting. He never stops loving us along the way.
Sometimes, in the waiting, it’s easy for me to be frustrated with God because I’m hurting and in pain and still things haven’t changed. Okay God. I think. This is so hard. I’m sad and I want things to be better. Where are you? What are you waiting for? Do you even care that I’m hurting?
You probably know or have heard of the shortest verse in the bible. "Jesus wept." That’s John 11:35. When He gets to where Martha and Mary are and sees them in such pain He cries. God cries. and it isn’t because Lazarus is dead. It is because He hears the desperate cries of his friends and is heartbroken alongside them. See, Jesus knows that He is going to raise Lazarus from the dead. He knows that things are going to be okay really soon. And yet His heart breaks for them. In the same way it breaks for us. If you are desperately asking Jesus for something, know that He sees your broken heart.
One more really cool thing. At the end of the story it says “Jesus said to them, unbind him and let him go.” (because Lazarus was still wrapped up in dead people stuff). Jesus could have done this himself. Jesus probably could have waved his hand and had all that stuff disappear off of Lazarus if He wanted because He’s God. But He calls the community to do it. And He calls the community to do it because there must have been something for them to gain from touching the wounds and getting so close to that pain together. Together they are removing the garments of death from Lazarus. Don’t be held captive by garments of death. Take off the dead clothes and live! You’ve been set free.
I know that this doesn’t solve all your problems, but I didn’t say it would. When we focus on who Jesus is rather than the problem we have itself, more and more will we be filled with hope rather than disappointment. Jesus will never fail in being who He is because He is constant. But He might answer your prayer in a surprising way. In fact, He probably will.
If you feel like you’re in limbo, waiting and waiting for something: an acceptance letter, financial aid, the okay from your parents to go to the school of your dreams or major in what you want to or for a friend to take steps with you toward reconciliation, know that God hears your prayer and His heart is broken as yours is. But He isn’t done yet. And He could be doing something brand new.
Isaiah 43:19 See! I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
It might not look like what you expect, but God is doing something and it will probably surprise you.
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Today I went home and got to hear Doug Fields speak at my home church, which was such a gift. The message was especially good so I’m gonna share some good thoughts from it slash my thoughts with you.
we all have a desperate prayer for something.
maybe you have a broken friendship and want to see that fixed. maybe you really want to get plugged into a church. maybe you really want your dad come to know Christ. maybe you really want God to tell you what you’re supposed to do with your life. maybe you really want to get into a certain college. or maybe you got in and you really want God to make it happen for you financially somehow.
whatever your prayer is, that’s okay.
Doug told the story from John 11 about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. One day Jesus hears from a messenger that Mary and Martha sent that their brother, Lazarus, is really sick and they ask Jesus to come immediately and help him.
But Jesus decides to wait two whole days to head over there, and by the time he gets there, Lazarus had been dead for four days. Then Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. That’s the basic gist of the story.
Jesus’ timing seems a little bit funky. Couldn’t Jesus have just come when Mary and Martha wanted Him to? then they wouldn’t have been put through such grief and things would be way easier, right? Well, I’m learning that God doesn’t do things to make life easy for us. He does them so we can see Him and the He can be glorified. Okay okay, that’s good but what does that mean for us? What does it mean while we are sitting, confused and waiting, wanting answers?
This is frustrating, there is no denying that. I think we have to ask ourselves, “am i really trusting Jesus with this?”
Real trust is to trust in His timing. We stop trusting when we put a time limit on what we are asking of God. When we don’t trust God, we don’t give Him the space to move in our lives. To walk with Jesus, we must trust the pace of His walk. And we must trust that He is loving us through it. He has never stopped loving you in your waiting. He never stops loving us along the way.
Sometimes, in the waiting, it’s easy for me to be frustrated with God because I’m hurting and in pain and still things haven’t changed. Okay God. I think. This is so hard. I’m sad and I want things to be better. Where are you? What are you waiting for? Do you even care that I’m hurting?
You probably know or have heard of the shortest verse in the bible. "Jesus wept." That’s John 11:35. When He gets to where Martha and Mary are and sees them in such pain He cries. God cries. and it isn’t because Lazarus is dead. It is because He hears the desperate cries of his friends and is heartbroken alongside them. See, Jesus knows that He is going to raise Lazarus from the dead. He knows that things are going to be okay really soon. And yet His heart breaks for them. In the same way it breaks for us. If you are desperately asking Jesus for something, know that He sees your broken heart.
One more really cool thing. At the end of the story it says “Jesus said to them, unbind him and let him go.” (because Lazarus was still wrapped up in dead people stuff). Jesus could have done this himself. Jesus probably could have waved his hand and had all that stuff disappear off of Lazarus if He wanted because He’s God. But He calls the community to do it. And He calls the community to do it because there must have been something for them to gain from touching the wounds and getting so close to that pain together. Together they are removing the garments of death from Lazarus. Don’t be held captive by garments of death. Take off the dead clothes and live! You’ve been set free.
I know that this doesn’t solve all your problems, but I didn’t say it would. When we focus on who Jesus is rather than the problem we have itself, more and more will we be filled with hope rather than disappointment. Jesus will never fail in being who He is because He is constant. But He might answer your prayer in a surprising way. In fact, He probably will.
If you feel like you’re in limbo, waiting and waiting for something: an acceptance letter, financial aid, the okay from your parents to go to the school of your dreams or major in what you want to or for a friend to take steps with you toward reconciliation, know that God hears your prayer and His heart is broken as yours is. But He isn’t done yet. And He could be doing something brand new.
Isaiah 43:19 See! I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
It might not look like what you expect, but God is doing something and it will probably surprise you.
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