Beyond Our Trouble, God's Glory
So the sisters sent to him, saying, 'Lord, he whom you love is ill.’ (John 11:3)
John 11:1-46; I Cor. 15:51-56; Rom. 8:35-39; Phil. 2:25; II Thess. 3:5; II Tim. 4:18
What Is God Saying?
The people whom Jesus loved in that special home of Bethany were hurting. Jesus was fully human as well as God. He had human attributes and human needs. He sought out relaxed and informal companionship, away from the public eye. Such was the home at Bethany, but trouble had come to this home. He was needed as never before by those who knew Him and loved Him. Lazarus was very sick and Jesus was far off. Yet, to their surprise, He delayed His coming by two days and Lazurus died.
When Jesus arrived at Lazurus’ newly occupied tomb He wept with Martha, who was confused and grieving. And then He said the greatest words about the resurrection ever spoken (John 11:25, 26), and called Lazarus back to life, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.”
How Does This Apply To Us?
There is no use thinking that if we love God and if we know God loves us, there will be no illness. Here in this one short sentence, divine love and terminal illness appear together, ‘He whom you love is ill.’ God's love and man's illness can go together. Being sick does not mean God has forgotten us and no longer cares. Illness and death do not have the final word. Jesus gives us the final word, the thrilling word, the only word that surmounts the inequities of life and the seeming finality of death. Out of Lazarus' death and resurrection came the most comforting reassurance the human ear ever heard (John 11:25). Beyond illness and death, there is the living, loving Jesus saying, ‘Did I not tell you that if you would believe, you would see the glory of God?’ (John 11:4).
We can look at illness as a doorway that can lead to a vision of God's glory. This can come through the miracle of healing. Or it may be that through the enforced stillness of illness, we have time to see more deeply that God wants us to take a different road, a better road than we were traveling when good health was taken for granted. Always in weakness, in defeat, or illness, God is still in control. His delay in coming to Lazarus was ultimately for God's glory (John 11:4). Let us look at all divine delays in the same way.
Pray With Me
Lord, Your love is wonderful. Nothing separates us from it—nothing has, nothing will, nothing can. Your love stands as a mighty rock against the restless waves of time and the strong winds of adversity. The strength of Your love gives substance to our hope, and joy to our faith. Your love is supreme and its final victory is assured.
Therefore, I come to You with my simple requests, born in moments of fear and anguish, ‘Lord, he whom You love is ill.’ Illness and hardship are not reasons for believing that Your love has been withdrawn. Even the silence of death cannot finally persuade me that Your love has been overcome, ‘Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it.’
From now on, I will not hesitate to say, ‘Lord, he who You love is ill.’ I will say this with confidence because I believe no trial in this life can separate us from Your love.
To the glory of the living Christ whose sweetest name is Love. Amen.
Moving On In The Life of Prayer
In praying we should always believe that God has something better in store. The words that follow our key text as they appear in the Living Bible are very revealing,
‘The purpose of his illness is not death, but for the glory of God. I, the Son of God, will receive glory from this situation.’
So when illness or trouble comes, let us not wrap ourselves in misery. Let us not question the goodness and love of God. Let us look for the glory. That's what God intends for us to see in prayer and to experience in life, His strength made perfect in our weakness, His love triumphant over death.
