John 11 tells a story with a wonderful application to our lives when our circumstances are painful or just don't make sense:
Mary and Martha were the sisters of Lazarus. Scripture indicates that these three were good buddies with Jesus, the miracle worker. It says, "Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus" (John 11:5). Yet, when Lazarus gets sick and his sisters send word to their all-powerful Lord so that he can come and heal Lazarus, Jesus did absolutely nothing! "When he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days" (John 11:6). Jesus explains his inaction by saying, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it" (John 11:4). At this point in the story, I imagine that Mary and Martha may be feeling pretty hurt, even betrayed. They have walked in close fellowship with Jesus, and Jesus has repeatedly proven his ability to perform miracles and heal the sick, yet He chooses to do nothing to heal their brother. Ouch.
Moving on in the story...... Jesus becomes aware that Lazarus is no longer sick - he has actually died. Listen to Jesus' seemingly not-too-compassionate comment about Lazarus' death: "Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe" (John 11:14-15).
Jesus finally went to see Mary and Martha. By the time he arrived Lazarus had been dead for four days! Both of the women said, "Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died" (John 11:21, 32). I believe I would have probably said the same thing, maybe with some anger in my voice. But, to their surprise, Jesus told them that their brother would rise again. Jesus looked at Martha, in her grief and anguish, and assured her of who He was and what He could do. He then asked her, "Do you believe?" (John 11:26b). Martha said, "Yes, Lord, I believe!" With Mary, Jesus did not have this sort of spiritual conversation. With her, He cried.
Jesus then went to the tomb and commanded the stone to be rolled away. He said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" (John 11:40) Sure enough, Lazarus walked out of the tomb alive. Scripture then says that "many" who were standing by witnessing this whole situation put their faith in Jesus.
The application of this story, to me, is clear and powerful:
God will allow us to experience all sorts of pain and circumstances that don't make sense from our earthly perspective. We may feel neglected, forgotten, betrayed, or angry at Him. We know that He loves us and we know that we love Him, and so we wonder why in the world He would allow life to happen like it does. However, He has a wonderful, eternal plan at work, and He knows that our pain can be "for God's glory.... so that God's Son may be glorified." God is both wise, glad for the dark times because of their potential to grow our faith, and compassionate, crying with us as we hurt. God will work in and through our ugly life circumstances in order to bring us to a place of greater belief in Him. Our belief will enable Him to work wonders. Then, as others witness our spiritually-mature, faith-filled responses to hard times, they will see the greatness of our God and be drawn to Him.
Yay, God - you have a purpose in the pain!
When life doesn't make sense to me, you are holding everything in your hands.
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