Chapter 8- Lessons from Lazarus

The story of Lazarus is a powerful one.  There is the obvious miracle that Jesus performs in raising him from the dead, but you can read deeper.  Martha drops everything during their mourning and runs to meet Jesus in the street.  She trusts him and knows thy will be done.  It probably has something to do with their previous meeting and her learning that she needs to choose the better part.  She had faith even after he waited to come see Lazarus.  Jesus shows that death is not the end.  The Jewish people believed that after 3 days the soul left the body.  That for 3 days you could still live and be brought back to life.  Jesus throws out their old beliefs by raising Lazarus on the 4th day.  One of my favorite lines she uses is "It maybe be Friday, but Sunday's comin' "


I do struggle with this chapter.  This is one of the chapters where my personal theology does not line up with the authors.  For good or bad, I read it and I learned from it, but I have trouble with it.  She talks about the 5 lessons we learn from Lazarus.  I learned from some of them and the others have caused me to deepen my faith and learn exactly how I feel God is speaking to me about certain things.

The 5 lessons are...

• God's will does not always proceed in a straight line.  
• God's love sometimes tarries for our good and his glory.  I looked up tarries in the dictionary and it can mean "to stay put" or "delay in acting or doing".   I don't think God delays love, but I think we've all experienced a time when we are asked to "stay put" or "delay acting or doing".  It is all for our good and God's glory. The good news is, God loves all the time!
• God's ways are not ours, but his character is still dependable.  Lazarus may have been dead, Jesus may have tarried on his journey to their house, but God's way is not ours.  In the end, God was dependable, in an amazing way.
• God's plan is released when we believe and obey.  Yep, obey.  I ask my son to obey me all the time.  I like it better than "listen to me".  He is listening, he's just not acting.  Maybe that's what God is saying.  You can't just listen, you must obey.  Only in our action can we fully experience the call God has for our lives.  
• The end is never the end; it is only the beginning.

Good lessons to learn.  The part I struggle with is when she talks about how God might "let something happen" to further his glory.  After my struggles in life with death and hardships, I have found that in my faith, God doesn't "let" things happen.  I can't wrap my head and heart around the fact that all things are from God.  I know God is all powerful, but evil, free will, and sin still abound.  Things may happen and they may be used for God's glory, but they may not be from God.  I will never believe the Haiti earthquake, Hurricane Katrina, the tornado in Wadena, MN or things like that are from God.  I will never believe that God gave my Grandma cancer.  No, what I believe is that God will stand with me in these times.  Crying tears with all of us and comforting us.  God will take what has happened and turn it in to something wonderful.  Why?  Because God is God.  The Lord is my light and salvation.  Whom shall I fear?  Not God.