God Cares
Everybody remembers the shortest passage in the Bible…( John 11:35 )…”Jesus wept.”…but let’s look at the two, right-after verses…36 and 37. But some said,” Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying ?” “This man”, being Jesus’ friend…Mary and Martha’s brother, Lazarus. Lazarus had gotten sick and was dwindling…and the sisters sent a messenger to tell Jesus, knowing He could heal him, if He would just come…but Jesus purposely stayed away for two more days. Didn’t Jesus care !? Didn’t Lazarus follow Jesus as a believer !? Wasn’t this family loved by Jesus ?! Yes, Yes and Yes. By the time Jesus got there, it was “too late” … Lazarus was dead and buried. Here’s where the rubber meets the road…where faith gets tested…and where our actions speak louder than our words. We’ve had sick, loved ones die, even though we asked God to intervene and heal em; right ? We may still be praying for someone right now…that God will step in and save the day…whether it be a physical healing, spiritual healing or mental healing. Maybe it’s an addiction, or demon that we’re begging God to take away…to replace the desire with something that builds up, insteada destroying. Maybe it’s a missing relative that we’re asking God to reveal their whereabouts. Maybe it’s a marriage we’re asking God to mend. Maybe we’re asking for a miracle…that God would help us pass our “finals” … that we’d “get pregnant” … that we’d be successful in our jobs … hit a home run … kill a good buck or catch a big fish. We don’t mind asking God for near bout anything; right ? But…what if He don’t come through like we want ? What if that loved one dies anyway..,we don’t get pregnant.., we strike out or that relative is never heard from again ? What’s our opinion of God, then ? Is He less, “God”, when He fails to meet our demands, our petitions and pleas ? Were we “worshiping” or “following” Him for what He could give us or do for us ? Do we love Him superficially…for what we can get from Him? …or do we love Him, regardless ? If we were honest with ourselves and God, we can probably recall a time in our lives when we questioned God’s authority…His availability and even His “abilities”. We didn’t get what we asked for, so we’re not giving Him any more of “our” money or time. News flash: God ain’t on our timetables and He won’t compromise His standards. “His” will, oughta be our desire and His reasoning is beyond our comprehension. Simply put…His grace is sufficient ( 2 Corinthians 12:9 ) ! We may not like it or understand it, but it ain’t like it’s a secret. He told us,” My ways ain’t yall’s and my thoughts are so much higher. ” ( Isaiah 55:8-9 ) God’s will isn’t that we suffer and face hardships … His will is that we trust Him, no matter what our circumstances are. His will is that we glorify Him in all we do, say and think. Unfortunately, there’s bad people living amongst us, and good people suffer from the actions of those that live contrary to God’s will. And then there’s “sin”. And the consequences of sin are the same since Adam and Eve introduced em way back when ( Genesis chapter 3 ). Yeah…Jesus could’ve kept Lazarus from dying…but He didn’t. And true to form, Jesus’ plan was to bring glory to the Father by what He was going to do…not what He didn’t do. Jesus stood outside Lazarus’ tomb…and wept. I choose to believe it was because He knew Lazarus was enjoying Paradise…( absent from the body, present with the Lord…2 Corinthians 5:8 ), and He was about to ruin His party. So yeah…Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave…to prove that He had authority over life as well as death ! Something only “GOD” could do. 😉. It’s our choice as to how we deal with uncomfortable circumstances and less than favorable conditions. We should always pray about everything and worry about nothing ( Philippians 4:6-7 )…because our faith ain’t in a fairy tale character or another human being … it’s in the Creator of all mankind…as well as everything else we see and don’t see ( Colossians 1:16-17 ). Yeah…He can do anything … but don’t assume He’s not listening and actively at work when our prayers ain’t answered like we want em to be.