Believe!

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again…” Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.” John 11:5-7, 14-15

There are times when we cry out to the Lord for help, but He waits until our situation seems impossible and beyond solving before He responds. This doesn’t make sense. Why wouldn’t He fix what was wrong before it goes to the point where it is beyond fixing? With a lot of doubts, we may even question His love for us and His goodness. The account of Lazarus’ death in the Book of John chapter 11, gives us insight into this question. Jesus heard that Lazarus who He loved was sick, but instead of going immediately to heal him as He did for scores of people several times before, He waited. He waited until Lazarus was dead, when His sisters whom He also loved had no hope left and grieved the loss of their beloved brother. It was then that Jesus made His move to a buried corpse instead of an ailing man. Everyone thought He was late. He showed up when Lazarus was already stinking.  Surely, there was nothing else that could be done. Everything was over. But not with Jesus.

Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”  Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.” John 11:38-44

This is so exciting. Not only do we serve a God who has risen from the dead, but He brings life to the dead. He does this so that we can strengthen our belief in Him and also so that God is glorified.

I was having a difficult time buying prescription eyeglasses and it seemed whatever I did there were always obstacles hindering me from getting them. But a friend of mine kept on praying that I would get not only one pair of eyeglasses but two, even when the whole scenario seemed dim. And to compound my problems, after seeing my ophthalmologist in Jamaica, I started having issues with my eyes. So on returning to Argentina, I had to make an appointment for another ophthalmologist visit as I was concerned because I had to have emergency surgery on both eyes a few years before as I could have gone blind at any moment. Therefore, it was important for me to check to make sure my eyes were fine. I went in and checked, and the ophthalmologist said my eyes were doing well and she also gave me eyeglasses prescription too as I was thinking maybe I could get them in Argentina, but I was not very hopeful as I thought the prices may have been too expensive and an Argentine friend had said she was not sure they were up-to-date with the technology for the type of eyeglasses I needed. After we both saw the ophthalmologist, we went into eyeglasses’ stores close-by. We got an estimate at one store, and it wasn’t too bad. Then we went to another nearby store to get estimates. They had four different types of progressive lenses and for the price of three of the types of lenses, I could get two pairs of lenses for the price of one. Then suddenly, I remembered my friend’s prayers. Here was God answering them when I was losing hope.  When I expressed my surprise to my Argentine friend about how God was answering my other friend’s prayers she said to forget about her eyes, she wants my friend to pray for her to get married. We had a good laugh because she feels like that is a dead situation, but with our God, nothing is impossible. He brings life to what seems dead for His glory. When I told my praying friend about my testimony, she said sometimes we need others to pray on our behalf. I am thankful she did that as she was like the people who set Lazarus free from his grave clothes. Our prayers are important for others when sometimes they cannot believe and pray for themselves because they lack hope.

I am learning that I cannot focus on the dead situation, but on the one who raises the dead and brings life. He knows our hearts when we are doubting, so sometimes He brings us to a dead end, when we think nothing else can be done, and then He shows up and breathes life into what we thought was dead so that we can believe.