Wednesday December 06, 2017

 

 

Have you ever prayed for relief? Have you prayed for relief from an illness for yourself, or for a loved one, or for financial relief because the bills kept piling up? Perhaps you have prayed for your family, marriage, or children. Does it seem as though you prayed but God was not listening? Does it seem as though instead of relief from your situation, things just kept getting worst, the tension, struggles, hassles, and headaches grew, and there was no relief in sight? Perhaps you were told that it was already too late, the illness has already overtaken your loved one, you are too behind on your mortgage you will end up losing your home, or your family issue is so out of control your marriage will simply fall apart.

 

When I think about prayer, there are a few people that come to mind who you would think would be at the top of Gods list in terms of priority. Martha, Mary and their, brother Lazarus come to mind, they were among the closest earthly friends Jesus had. When Lazarus became gravely ill, Martha and Mary sent a message to Jesus telling Him, Lord your dear friend is very sick.

 

John 11:4-6 NIV

 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.”  So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, he stayed where he was for the next two days.  

 

For some inexplicable reason, Jesus decided not to immediately go to Martha and Mary’s home. Instead of honoring their request, He used the situation to bring glory to God and to His name. Consider that Martha had served Jesus hand and feet, and Mary had used an expensive perfume to wash His feet. In fact, Lazarus is the one Jesus called a dear friend you would think they were at the top of Jesus’ list. Equally inexplicable perhaps is why Jesus would allow certain hardships in our lives to begin with. Difficult as it may be to grasp this concept, God uses our struggles to bring glory to His name.

 

This situation shows us how Jesus used the hardships of His friends to bring glory to God. You might say, this does not sound right. God does not use His friends’ hardships for His glory. God does not get glory when people get sick or die God gets glory when they are healed. How is it possible for Jesus to be glorified when He is ignoring the struggles and hardships of His dear friends?

 

As we continue reading, we see that several days later, Jesus decides to visit Martha and Mary. Upon His arrival, He finds that His friend Lazarus had died, and was buried. Mary and Martha tell Jesus: “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died”. To which Jesus responds: “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe? Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in grave clothes, his face wrapped in a head cloth. And Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”

 

In the midst of our struggles, God is glorified. You might think it is already too late, your loved one has been gone for years, and God did not listen to your prayer… Let me assure you that your miracle will be greater than Lazarus’ miracle and will bring even greater glory to God. If raising someone from the grave who had been there for four days can bring glory to God, think about how much more glorifying to God would the raising of a person that has been dead for years be. God will indeed use every struggle and situation to glorify himself!