Trust in God's Power
Message by Daniel Carandang
Written by Ashley Petallano
We've all had our share of worries that seemed too impossible.
You've probably got that paper that's due tomorrow but your professor just gave it TODAY. And it ain't the typical 1 pager. Nope, it's 10 pages.
Mom and Dad are constantly fighting nowadays and it seems as if peace can never be achieved inside your home.
Your sister seems to have made it her mission not to like you forever and you're always trying to make amends or to get her attention but she doesn't reciprocate.
You're nursing a broken heart from a failed relationship. It's been a year but it's like the pain won't ever go away.
Enrollment's tomorrow...you have no money.
With all these things happening to you, you just can't help but feel so worried and stressed. You ask God for help but it seems as if He's not there. And you just don't know what's next.
A pair of sisters had the same dilemma during Jesus' time.
11 A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. 2 This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair.[a] Her brother, Lazarus, was sick. 3 So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.”
4 But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.” 5 So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, 6 he stayed where he was for the next two days.
John 11:1-6
Mary, Martha and Lazarus were amongst the closest of Jesus' friends, kinda like your BFFs or best buds. There was no doubt that they loved Jesus and Jesus loved them equally. So when Lazarus fell ill, it was only expected of Jesus to come to His friend's aid IMMEDIATELY.
Except He didn't.
He stayed where He was for 2 more days.
Can you imagine how the other three felt?
That feeling of abandonment, of God not listening...it's quite familiar to most of us.
Have you ever reached a point where you asked God: "Where were You when I needed You?"
Misfortunes, trials and challenges always surround us. We have parents who fight with each other endlessly, siblings who act as if they're always above us, academic work that seems very unreasonable, classmates who pick on us day and night, etc. There are even much worse scenarios: teenage girls being molested by their own family members, kids orphaned at an early age, financial crisis bringing troubles to a family and the likes.
Why do bad things happen to good people?
Sometimes, it doesn't make sense. It makes us think of God as careless for not responding during the time we needed Him. It can reach a point where we just assume that because He has so many children, God has forgotten and doesn't love us anymore.
But let's pause for a moment and realize this:
The quickness of God's response should not be the basis of His love for you.
In John 11:4, Jesus explains to His disciples why He decided not to go immediately.
4 But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.”
Something incredible was about to happen but not during that time. It was an opportunity for Jesus to show who He was, who His Father was. He had a plan but it was in His time.
And so as the story goes, Jesus eventually visited the three siblings. Unfortunately, Lazarus was already dead. An anguished Martha meets Him along the way:
21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.”
John 11:21-22
Martha couldn't help but express her grief and disappointment from her brother's death and Jesus' lateness but despite that, she knew that Jesus had His purpose. She believed in what he could possibly do.
Same goes for us.
We should know that we serve a God Almighty.
Though He knows what we're going through, we should still tell Him what's happening. That's why Christianity is not a religion, but a relationship. A TWO-WAY RELATIONSHIP. You're talking to your heavenly Dad. You can tell Him how you feel about the situation and ask what's next.
Even though it looks like you've lost, you don't lose faith in God.
Remember, you haven't seen the whole picture yet and He has.
Trust in God's character, not just His power.
Despite Lazarus being dead, Jesus insisted to see the former's tomb. There were lots of talk behind His back, asking why He was unable to heal Lazarus when He was known for healing blind men and making lame men walk. This troubled Jesus as He headed to a dear friend's tomb.
33 When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him,[f] and he was deeply troubled. 34 “Where have you put him?” he asked them.
They told him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Then Jesus wept. 36 The people who were standing nearby said, “See how much he loved him!” 37 But some said, “This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?”
38 Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. 39 “Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them.
But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.”
40 Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?”
John 11:33-40
He was telling them that now was the time for His glory to be revealed.
Faith is not knowledge. It is trust in what you do not see. What He's basically telling Martha in verse 40 is: "Trust Me and you will see My glory."
He asked the men to roll the stone away. Though He could've done it on His own, Jesus wanted man's effort in it. Next, He called out his dead friend.
Sure enough, the once dead Lazarus came to life.
What seemed to be the most impossible thing occured right in front of their eyes.
Those who witnessed this miracle were opened to the reality of Jesus and in turn, believed in Him.
The story of Lazarus speaks in volumes to those of us who seek miracles in our life. There are dozens of them. Families that need restoring, lives that need repairing, grades that need resurrecting and all the other miracles.
Sometimes, we doubt that God will answer us when we call out regarding these things. But always keep in mind that He will do things in His time. His timing is different from ours. God will answer us with what He knows is the best, the one that reveals His glory, the one that teaches us and molds us into better people.
Our role is to roll the stone away like the people did.
His role is the impossible.
Trust in God's power, that He will act upon His wish and that you will no doubt witness His glory.
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