“So then he told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.'” John 11:14-15
During a three to four-year portion of our marriage, my wife and I made some pretty poor financial decisions. We bought a house we really did not need to buy. We bought a car when our old car still met all our needs. We took on a debt load that was really way over our heads. Simply put, we made some bad decisions. During the years since that time, we have been working diligently to dig our way out of those decisions. Happily, I can report that we are almost there. Often times as I look back at those decisions and I wonder why in the world God would let me do things that were that dumb. After all, He has the power to make the pen run out of ink before I sign on the dotted line. He knew what was going to happen. He knew the stress that those decisions would cause. Yet, He allowed me to do all of that dumb stuff. Why? So that He can be glorified through it. You see, now that we can – by His incredible grace – see the end of this process we have the ability to see His provision and His abundance with totally different eyes. We are able to revel in His abundance because we have experienced our own failings.
After becomes apparent that the disciples don’t quite understand Him, Jesus tells them plainly that Lazarus is dead. There was not sugar-coating and no breaking it to them easily. In starkly clear language Jesus declares that His friend – whom He loved – is dead. But in the same kind of language Jesus goes on to say that He is even glad that Lazarus is dead. I don’t know about you but that sounds incredibly callous and cold-hearted. However, we cannot forget that Jesus’ statement is not the end of the story. Jesus knew that He would raise Lazarus from the grave a day later. He knew that the raising of Lazarus would be so profound that many would come to faith. He knew that the pain of the moment would be superceded by the incredible joy of being used by God to glorify the Son. The present circumstance would be replaced by rejoicing if they will only wait until the end of the story. What is it that you are going through today? Whether your circumstance involves poor decisions you have made – like my financial decisions – or has nothing to do with choices you have made, you can rest assured that if you turn it over to God He will use it to bring Him glory. Don’t give up. Hold on because you haven’t made it to the end of the story.
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