I’ve been chewing on something since yesterday morning. It’s nothing new, but I can’t help but feel like I’m not the only one that needed the reminder…so I’m just going to say what I want to say and then tell you how I got there.
You and I cannot escape pain.
Before you quit reading, hear me out.
All of us know this to be true but we don’t want to admit it or talk about it, and I didn’t hop on here this morning to talk about it either – I don’t want to talk about pain, I want to talk about where we go when we are in the thick of it.
In John 11, we read the story of two sisters who were grieving the loss of their brother, Lazarus. Keep in mind that these two gals knew Jesus well. They hadn’t just heard about Jesus’ ability to heal; they had witnessed it. They knew that if Jesus had been there, their brother would have lived, plain and simple.
Talk about a gut punch.
This is the kind of pain I’m thinking about this morning.
Martha and Mary knew this pain. They knew Jesus could have changed the outcome. He could have prevented the sickness in the first place. He could have intervened.
But He didn’t.
What do we do with that?
I love this story for so many reasons, but possibly my favorite reason is because of what Martha and Mary did in the middle of their pain.
They went TO Jesus, not from Jesus.
Read it for yourself in John 11:1-43. Both women said to Jesus, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” There is a big difference between saying this TO Jesus and saying it about Him. They went directly to Jesus in the midst of their confusion, disappointment and pain. Mary literally fell at His feet weeping. What a heart wrenching scene.
Maybe you have been there. The healing you prayed for didn’t come and your heart is broken. You are left with confusion and pain because you know, deep down, Jesus could have healed, but He didn’t.
Here’s what I want to say to you – take every ounce of the pain you feel, the disappointment, and the confusion and run straight to Jesus. Something amazing will happens when you do– He feels your pain with you. Don’t ask me to explain it, I can’t. I don’t know how and frankly I don’t know why Jesus enters into our pain, but He does. It’s mind-boggling that Jesus felt the deep pain and sorrow with Martha and Mary when He knew good and well what He was about to do. He easily could have said to them, “Don’t cry! Chin up, Buttercup! I’m about to blow your mind!” But He didn’t. He wept instead. The Greek word for wept in this verse doesn’t mean He had a few tears in His eyes. It means He was demonstratively upset.
Picture Jesus sobbing.
God never promised us He would heal every time.
He did promise that He would be with us.
You know the ending of the story. Jesus brought life out of death. He still does. One way or another, Jesus will breathe life back into you, if you let Him.