An unexpected blessing;
This experience has made me a better pastor. I don’t want to imply I was a bad pastor before. However; this experience has changed the way I understand the hurt of others. When I see others in need I am quick to respond and I have a greater empathy because I now know what it’s like to suffer. One raining day I was walking through the mall waiting on a ride home. As I walked through the mall I noticed a woman sitting alone, dabbing her tears with a tissue. She was wearing a scarf which is a telltale sign that she had lost her hair from chemo. The scarf was her way of maintaining some dignity in the middle of her medical ordeal. My heart was moved. Before, I probably would not have noticed and just kept on walking. I stopped, turned and walked over to her. I asked her if she would mind if I sat down on the bench next to her. I asked if she needed help. You could see the pain and anguish on her face. She said she was fine and that she was waiting for her family in the store. She continued to dap her eyes. I spoke, “Do you mind if I ask you a question?” I didn’t wait for permission, “Do you have cancer?” Her chin dropped and gave me a weary, “Yes” and nodded her head. I did the strangest thing you could imagine. I smiled at her and said, “me too!”. I am sure she thought I was nuts. Then I did something I didn’t even expect to do. “Can I pray for you?” She said through tears, “I would like that very much.” So with the crowds passing by, we lifted our hearts toward heaven and asked God to heal this woman and fill her with hope. She gave me a small smile and said thank you for your kindness. When you are suffering it doesn’t cost you anything to pay attention to the hurt around you. You are probably more in tune with it because of what you are enduring. God used this scary and painful event to push me out to where he wanted me to be. God asks us to stop focusing on our hurt so that we can use it to help the hurting around us. I would never have done this before. Now I have a new courage to be bold and assist the broken in spirit. These experiences are healing me just as he wants to heal you.
In John 11 Jesus teaches us about the “Glory of God”. John 11:1 “Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.)3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” 4 When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.”
The one Jesus loved was ill. It’s important to notice the term of affection here. Jesus loves Lazarus, Mary and Martha, just as he loves you and me. Jesus could have healed Lazarus from a distance, he had shown this power before. I myself have asked, “Jesus will you heal me like you healed those others?” And I wait, hoping and praying. I am sure you are waiting, hoping for God to intervene. This next thought requires perspective, and faith. Will you trust that what God is doing will ultimately bring him glory?
Jesus tells his disciples that for the sake of the glory of God he waits. While he waits, Lazarus dies. Did he wait to long or did this waiting serve a purpose, the glory of God? Jesus is not late, he acts according to God’s will so that God may receive glory.
The story continues in verse 21; “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. John 11
The sisters must have been confused and disappointed. In their hearts they were asking, “why has this happened?” This is reflected in their first words to Jesus, “if only you had been here”. How much are our lives are spent with this statement of remorse, “God, if only”. When we say this we are tempted to doubt God’s love, care and affection for us. We struggle to see what God is doing and what this means for us. It’s important for you to see the compassion the Father has for us through his son.
In John 11:33 Jesus is deeply moved by the grief and sorrow of the sisters. John 11:33 “When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.” The story ends with Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead for God’s glory.
God sees you, and your hurt. Psalm 34:18 tells us that God is near to the broken-hearted and those crushed in spirit. I have found it to be true. I have never been closer to God than during this season. I trust that whatever happens, To God be the glory. If you trust him in your weakness and in your suffering, he will use you and this season of suffering for his glory. You may not see it now and it may feel like it will never make sense. Our vision is limited in the moment and by time. It may also be limited by our grief and pain. Paul expresses these limitations this way; 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly,but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.
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