Dr. Rick Mandl - August 28, 2020
When God Is Silent
When God Is Silent
Friday, August 28, 2020
Hey church family. This week I was rereading the story in John chapter 11 of the death of Jesus’ friend Lazarus. If you’re not familiar with the story, I’d encourage you to check it out for yourself this week. If you are familiar with it, then you know that Lazarus became seriously ill. Because he was a good friend of Jesus’ – Lazarus’ sisters, Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus, with a message. The message was short and simple and to the point.
It simply said, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” There’s nothing surprising in this story up to this point. Jesus, and Lazarus, and his sisters Mary and Martha were good friends. When Jesus travelled through their town, he would drop by their home to share a meal. So, it’s not surprising that at their point of greatest need, this family would reach out to Jesus. What is surprising, is Jesus reaction when he received this request for help.
We’re told that “So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” That delay was costly. Because by the time that Jesus finally got back to where Lazarus was, Lazarus had been dead for four days. Lazarus’ sister Martha was the first to meet Jesus when he reached their town. And she said to Jesus what they all had been thinking. She said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. On the one hand that is a statement of faith in the healing power of Jesus. Martha knew that Jesus had the power to heal the sick, and her brother Lazarus, had been sick. She rightly assumed, that had Jesus been there he could have performed a healing.
What she did not yet realize is that Jesus had something better planned. Not a healing, but a resurrection. When Jesus called Lazarus to come out of the tomb, and he emerged alive, wrapped in grave clothing, it was a spectacular event. Even more spectacular than the healing of someone who was seriously ill, but still alive. Martha couldn’t have known that before the fact. And so the question for her, is the same as the question for us.
What do you do during those times when God is silent? You’ve cried out to him with your need, but he has yet to show up. Usually you’ve got two choices. You can become discouraged, or you can patiently wait and trust that God’s delay is not necessarily his denial.
In the story of Jesus arrival at the grave of Lazarus, by all outward appearances he was four days late. Yet if you know the end of the story, you know that the reality is that He was right on time. I pray that God will teach all of us to trust Him, when his timing isn’t the same as ours.
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