There are certain themes that always seem to accompany God, and "Faith" is one of the biggest. It wasn't until this weekend that I really took a lot of time to make a connection between faith and living a life with God. I'm only gonna share this one lesson, but this one is gonna be a bit long so please bear with me. It's a really really deep topic that God taught me a lot about that I am only going to be able to begin to scratch the surface of, but I am going to try and make it worth your while to stick it out and read all the way through.
LESSON 5: God Will Never Stop Growing Your Faith
Now a man named Lazarus was sick. So his sisters went to Jesus and said "Lord, the one you love is sick." When He heard this he said "This sickness will not end in death. No, it's for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it." They stayed where they were for two more days, then He told His disciples that they were going to go to Judea. His disciples questioned Him about going and after responding to them, He added "Oh yeah, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I'm going there to wake him up." The disciples began giving Jesus medical advice: "But Lord, if he sleeps, he'll get better!" But Jesus wasn't actually talking about sleep. He tells them "Lazarus is dead..." then proceeds to say one of the most insensitive things but also something that for me that has opened my eyes to a crazy new level of understanding of God: "...and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe." His disciples must have been really confused at this one. I imagine one of them (probably Peter) saying: "Wait, so you're telling me that it's so important to you that we develop a deeper, more mature faith that a man had to DIE?" then Jesus replying "Yep, lets go wake him up".
After they make it back, Lazarus had been dead for 4 days and had been buried and placed in a tomb, and by this time his body had even begun to decay. The entire village had most likely been there at his funeral, had helped with his burial, and had mourned with his sisters, Mary and Martha. I'm not going to get into all the awesome lessons that can be taken away from what happens next, but Jesus, after talking with some people goes to the tomb where Lazarus is buried. A crowd had gathered by this time and was watching what was about to transpire. Jesus, standing in front of the tomb prays this prayer: "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here that they may believe that you have sent me." In my own paraphrase, He said: "God, you've heard my prayers. YOU want Lazarus raised from the dead, I want Lazarus raised from the dead. In fact, the only reason I'm praying this now is so that everyone here sees that You sent me and that You're the one that's gonna make this happen. Okay, ready? Lets do this!" Then He turns to the tomb and shouts "Lazarus, come out!"
It says then that from the tomb, the dead man came out, his hands, feet, and face still wrapped up in the burial cloths. Jesus even had to remind people "Hey guys, go help him take his grave clothes off!" because they were probably standing there in such shock and awe as to what they just witnessed! Guys, there is NOTHING, NOTHING, NOTHING that our God can't do!!! All this, all of it was done for two purposes: to deepen and mature the faith of the disciples, and to point a big ol' glorifying spotlight on God and just how sovereign, powerful, and GOOD He is!
This story can be found and read for yourself in John 11, but I want to point out something. Jesus could have gone and healed Lazarus right when he was at the point of death and He still would have been seen as a miracle maker. Bringing a man back from the dead after all hope of a miracle had passed, however, deepened the faith of the disciples and everyone who was there like never before! If God is able to bring someone back from the DEAD, what is there He can't do?! At that point, however, God raised the bar for the disciples and this is where Lesson 2 really began for me.
Being the kind of person I am, I like to know things. I like to know what's going to happen to me, I like to know (even if generally speaking) what to expect, I like certainty. I'm sure you can probably relate, most people do. Knowing things is definitely not a bad thing either! There is nothing wrong with knowing what you're going to have for dinner tonight, knowing what's going to be on next week's test, what your boss expects of you at work... and knowing exactly what that thing is that your dog is eating. Those are usually really good things to know. When it comes to knowing what God is going to be doing in your life, however, I would recommend considering not trying too hard to figure it out. I know I am going to be getting a lot of emails about this one but before you start composing one, please just hear me out.
God wants a relationship with us. No one is going to deny that. God wants us to know Him, and that's why He will always answer the prayer "are you there?" Chances are, however, He's not going to answer with a bright light suddenly appearing in the middle of a room and a big booming voice from Heaven saying "Yes, I am here!" He's capable of it, sure, but you probably don't want Him to. See, faith is one of those things God asks of us. In John 20:29, Jesus says "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." It's so important to Him that your faith be grown, that if He reveals Himself in a way that takes away your need for faith, you can almost be certain that He's going to put you through another kind of test or allow you to go through some different circumstances that pushes your faith and makes you turn to and trust in Him.
Part of what I was seeking this weekend was confirmation of some things I believe to the core of my being that God told me years ago. I just wanted reassurance that they were from Him, and frankly I began to doubt because it seemed as though He wasn't gonna come through for me. I just needed to know! Was I believing a lie or should I keep hoping and trusting? During my time away, however, I learned this very lesson and soon after, during some quiet time, I felt God telling me "Caleb, just trust me... wait...I got this...let go... I've got to work on something first." This was something that I felt God had been telling me for weeks at that point, but it wasn't until I got away and got still that it really clicked in my head. I shared what had happened with my old mentor and he told me "Yep, that sounds like the Big Guy."
That is the kind of thing I am talking about though. God reveals things to us, sure, but the more He does the higher the bar is set for us to be faithful, and the tests we might face could be so much more challenging. It sounds like a rotten deal doesn't it? It sounds as though the best thing to do is just not try and think too much about this stuff in the first place because, I mean, who wants to be put through bigger tests and challenges? Who wants to take the risk of more suffering and hardship? That's up to you. I'll tell you what though, if you're up for the challenge; if you're willing to trust God and go along with it and push yourself and allow God to stretch you, you'll begin to see things and you'll begin to experience things through God that you never would have thought possible! You'll develop a depth of faith never before imagined and a trust in God that will be UNSHAKABLE! You'll be able to see works of wonder and power, you'll see lives changed, and sometimes even witness actual miracles! There will be days where you collapse in bed, say to God "Wow, I never could have made it through today without your direct intervention... thank you God for such an adventure!" You reach that point with God, and your life will never be the same!
Missed the last one? Catch up in Time Out! Get Still, Get Quiet... Listen. (Part 2)
To Be Continued in: Time Out! Get Still, Get Quiet...Listen. (Part 4)
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