Pastor’s Point:
In our study today we discover Mary and Martha struggling with one of the most common issues Christians face. Martha approaches Jesus and says in John 11: 21 “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died”. All of us have faced or will face circumstances in our lives that are so difficult that it can leave us feeling abandoned by God. We can find ourselves asking, “Lord if you love me why did You allow this to happen to me?” If God is all knowing and if God is all powerful why did He not prevent this awful thing from occurring in my life? Sometimes things just don’t make sense. If God can prevent bad things from happening, then why does He not do so?
That is exactly the question that Mary and Martha asked Jesus, when their brother, Lazarus, died. However, Jesus said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.”
How well do we face the hard things in our life.? Are we able to say, “This is for the glory of God, therefore, I will not doubt or question the goodness of God. When writing about these things I find myself being very careful because as a pastor I have seen some of God’s most precious saints pass through life’s most difficult trials. Talk comes easy, advice and counsel can be left at the office door but walking the stony path for oneself is another matter altogether.
I have observed over the years that it takes a very mature Christian to reach the point of saying, “Lord your glory is more important than my suffering”. Your glory has greater value that the life of my brother or the health of my child. Yet, that should be our goal, to desire God’s glory above all things, in the blessing and in the sufferings. It is a matter of faith in believing that “ALL THINGS” work together for our good and for His glory. In other words, God glorifies His Son through the experiences of life. When we see Him working on our behalf as we travel through the difficult times, our faith in Him increases, seldom immediately, but prayerfully in time! May our life goal be to glorify our Lord through all of life’s circumstances and may we pray for grace to walk through this life in peace and contentment.