For the Weary...Jesus Weeps

Through many trials, tribulations, and tests, the question often presents 'Where is He?'. Where is The Father? Followed by 'Why?'. Why is He not ending my pain? Why is He allowing this to happen? Why death? Why abuse? Why loss? Why hurt and pain and grief and sorrow?...Why is He not showing up? We cry out in anguish to only feel like our cries are reaching the ceiling or being cried into a great chasm of darkness. And then there is John 11. A story most growing up in the church have heard, a story seen more for its' glorious resurrection of the dead than for the heart of the words in between. We all know the story-Lazarus dies, Jesus weeps, and then Jesus calls him forth from the grave and he is made alive again. Yet, it is what is in the 'in-between' texts that strikes as the heart and truth of the story. The story begins with Martha and Mary sending for Jesus, saying "Lord whom you love is ill." And Jesus responds that this illness will not lead to death but it is for the glory of God and for the Son to be glorified through it. There is enough power in these words alone to blog all day, but Lazarus' illness was given for one reason and one reason only- for the glory of God. This alone brings a comfort to my spirit, my injury, my delayed healing, while painful, while discouraging and at times frustrating, it  could have been given for one reason and one reason only? For the Glory of God? The Lord has been there all the time?? And then the words fill the page and all that we have been taught or all that we have been told to believe are shattered in the next two verses. "Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when He heard that Lazarus was ill, He stayed two days longer..." He loved them....so He stayed. As my pastor would say, complete paradigm shift. The Son loved, so He stayed. He could have healed him from where He was; He could have immediately went to be by His side. He could have called 10000 angels to surround his room, yet He stayed. He loved Him so much He knew that by staying and not immediately interceding something greater would happen, something greater would be brought into being, something greater would be written. The Father could have immediately healed me when I was prayed over, the Father could have immediately ended my pain, the Father could have immediately released the power of His Spirit into my body for immediate healing, yet He waited. He waited because He knew that something far greater would be brought into being. The Father could have healed the little body of my infant niece; He could have reached down and brought air back into her lungs; He could have held her heart in His hand and pumped it Himself, yet He knew that something far greater would be brought into being through His bringing her back to Him. Sometimes the Father waits, not because He does not love us, not because He wants us to suffer, but because He knows that by waiting something greater is being moved and grown in us. And He knows that not only will His glory shine through us but He will be able to produce far greater fruit in us by waiting. And then it gets even better. Jesus already knows what He is about to do, The Creator has already planned before time began the ending to this story. The disciples approach Him and Jesus responds, "I am glad for your sake I was not there, so that you may believe." My suffering, my pain, my circumstances not only are bringing glory to Him but they are reaching out to others. The Father may delay not only for my sake but for the sake of others around me. Not only has my injury and my trials affected me but they have affected others. Not only did my niece's death affect my family but it affected so many more Through trials,through her death, the Lord has used it to bring others to believe. I, we, can walk in our trials knowing that our response, our actions, our words through Him, can bring others to believe. Martha approaches Him and professes her faith in Christ, Mary approaches Him, and two of the greatest most powerful words in Scripture are written. "Jesus wept." Jesus saw the pain of His daughters, Jesus saw the pain of His children, and He wept with them. In the midst of my tears, He is crying with me. In the midst of our tears, He is crying with us. While He has, in our minds, delayed a response, delayed an answer, He knows His children are hurting. He knows His children are needing their Father, and He cries with them. Yet He knows the end of the story, He knows that resurrection will come. He knows that rebirth and regeneration will happen, whether here on earth or in Heaven, whether now or in the eternal. He knows that joy will fill the sorrow, that light will fill the darkness. He knows that He will bring glory to the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, and He knows that by waiting, far greater will happen than anything we could imagine. For the weary, Jesus weeps. For the hurting, Jesus weeps. For the broken, abused, battered, injured, sick, Jesus weeps and He knows the end of the story. He has been there with you through it all and He has written an ending far greater than any you could have written. Jesus weeps, Jesus loves, Jesus resurrects. 

Take A Moment To Remember...

As I sit here, thinking of other blogs to write, thinking of the series of writings I am working on about stories, thinking about what I am to give up for Lent,  my thoughts keep wandering back to the word "remember." A few years ago a sweet friend told me, in the midst of all that was going on around her the Lord was calling her to "remember." Remember...at the time I thought what an interesting discipline, remembrance. And now sitting here I have come to see there are these moments, in our lives, where I feel the Lord has us pause...and remember. Moment's where in the midst of all the chaos of life...He...just...wants...us...to...pause. Because where we were and where we are and where we are heading are all converging on this moment...this...single...moment. The moment where we realize that the hardships and failures have led to a joyous moment of gratitude. And just like the Israelites would pause on the riverbank, give thanks for the Lord's provision, and leave an altar of stones for those who came behind to remember, we too must take moments to pause, to remember. and leave our own altars of remembrance. Saturday as I was running a race, a race I never thought I would run again, a race that meant so much more than 3.1 miles, I realized this is the moment. This is the moment where the past two years of questions, the two years of failed treatments culminating in a surgery that no one knew for sure would be successful, the past two years of watching my brave uncle battle ALS that ultimately claimed his life last year right before my surgery and knowing I am blessed to even be walking much less running, the present weeks of training patience and diligence through hurt and pain, and the future possibilities of my life collided. The moment where the hand of the Father was seen from the beginning of this journey to the now; the moment where as I was running up the final hill towards the finish, I could feel the Father taking the load from my leg, taking the load from my heart, and propelling me towards the finish. The moment where in the midst of my arms pumping all I could do was feebly raise my hand in thanks and sing in my head "there You go lifting my load again." The moment where as a song so perfectly puts it "the hurt and the Healer collide." I collided with my Healer, and in that moment the hurt and the pain collided with the Truth and from the collision came an outburst of joy and gratitude, of emotion and tears. This was the moment to remember, the moment to remember how far the Father has brought and how much further the Father is taking. The moment to remember what the Lord has done, remember Who the Lord is, and remember what He is continuing to do. As Lent approaches, this is a season to remember, this is a season to take this time to institute the discipline of remembrance. "Take a moment to remember...."


Great song of remembrance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvdkbBPSx4I