I’ve got my Lazarus.
We all do.
I think the story of Mary, Martha and Lazarus is so timely for today.
Jesus loved them. They invited Him into their house, Martha cooked for Him, Mary sat at His feet and listened.

So when their brother Lazarus became sick, they sent word to Jesus. They didn’t just say that Lazarus was sick…
But instead said..
“The one you love is sick.”
Maybe to remind Jesus of His love for them. They didn’t ask Him to come and heal Lazarus, but after having heard the miracles they hoped He would come and give them one, because He loved them. He did miracles for strangers, and they hosted Him and were His friends.
Instead, when Jesus got word of Lazarus…
Jesus waited.
He waited two more days and then went to see them when He already knew Lazarus was dead.
This time, Jesus wasn’t invited into the house. Mary stayed home and Martha went to meet Him at the gate. She said that if He had been there, her brother would not have died, but she knows that God would still do whatever Jesus asks.
This is where Jesus proves a point.
He doesn’t just say He CAN resurrect…
He says He IS the resurrection and the life.
H uses the words “I AM”.
And even though I’m sure Martha is mad, she still believes that. Despite being mad and she could have doubted what He could do, she didn’t. She still believed, even in the depths of grief.

Our biggest task we have is to have TRUST, even when times are the hardest. Even when we lose our jobs. Even when the abuse continues. Even when the cancer isn’t taken away. Even when our loved ones die.
Then Martha went to the house to tell
Mary the teacher is here. Notice she didn’t bring Jesus to the house. Jesus stayed at the gate.
He only goes as far as you let Him.
Mary comes out and this time when she falls at His feet, it’s not to pour oil or use her hair to dry them, but instead to cry…”Lord, If you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
Then comes the shortest sentence in the Bible.
“Jesus wept”.

He knew what He was about to do, but He still cried with them. He showed them that even when in pain, He is there and crying with them. Empathy.
There were two groups of onlookers.
One said , “Oh, see how much He loves them, He is crying with them.”
The other group is like, “here’s this guy who opened the eyes of the blind man but didn’t do this for the ones who fed Him and loved Him and had Him at their house.”
Which group would you be in?
Jesus asked to go to the place where Lazarus was buried and asked them to move the stone. Martha didn’t want to, as Lazarus had been sealed in for four days and there would be an odor.
The tomb was where there pain was. What’s in your tomb? Family issues? Addiction? Sickness and disease? What are you hiding away? Will you remove the stone that seals it in your heart and allow Jesus in?
Mary and Martha did.
Jesus said thanks to His Father, our Father, and knows that this had to happen so that everyone would believe. Then Jesus said the words…
“Lazarus, come out!”
And guess what?
Lazarus came out. The one who died. The one who had been sealed up for four days, came out of the tomb. Jesus told them to unbind him from the grave clothes and let him go.

Everyone has a Lazarus. Something they have hidden away in their heart causing pain. Jesus showed that if you remove the stone and let Him in, He can help you release it.
Unbind it.
Take off everything you use to hide it away and cover it up.
He had to let things get so bad so He could show how good it can be.
I’ve struggled so much with my own Lazarus.
The cancer.
So many nights I’ve cried and asked why Jesus hasn’t taken the cancer from me. He even said, “Never will I leave you.” I’ve gotten tired of having Him asleep on my
Boat in this storm, even if he did wake up for a short time this week with the biopsy result.
I want Him to stop just being with me and crying with me as I cry, and instead give me my Lazarus moment.
Don’t we all.
Especially now with the pandemic, and business shutting down and loved ones sick and schools closed.
It is this time when we have to trust even harder. When Martha rolled up on Jesus and was like, “My cooking and house was good enough for you, but when we needed you, you didn’t come”, Jesus asked her if she still believed in Him.
Despite her anger or disappointment.. she did.
That’s the true test of faith. How you handle your disappointment when you feel God has forsaken you. Do you still believe?

Sometimes we need the situation for the revelation.
Two weeks ago I felt like the tomb was coming for me. Stopping all treatment. Hearing the frustration in my doctor’s voice as well as my herbalist being not as confident as he had been must a month ago.
I could have given up my faith.
My trust.
Instead, I leaned into it.
We can’t say something is a failure when it is still in the process of what becoming what it is meant to be.
Today, look into your heart. What have you buried from Jesus, what pain are you hiding?
Move your stone.
Let Him in.
It’s not that he can perform resurrection…
He IS the resurrection.
He was and is and will be to come.
Always.
He will never leave you.
He stays where you keep Him..
Whether it’s at the gate or in your heart.
He weeps with you in hard times.
He IS the resurrection and the life.
Move… your… stone.
In Jesus’s name, amen.

Xoxo

Keri

metimes we need the situation for the revelation.
Two weeks ago I felt like the tomb was coming for me. Stopping all treatment. Hearing the frustration in my doctor’s voice as well as my herbalist being not as confident as he had been must a month ago.
I could have given up my faith.
My trust.
Instead, I leaned into it.
We can’t say something is a failure when it is still in the process of what becoming what it is meant to be.
Today, look into your heart. What have you buried from Jesus, what pain are you hiding?
Move your stone.
Let Him in.
It’s not that he can perform resurrection…
He IS the resurrection.
He was and is and will be to come.
Always.
He will never leave you.
He stays where you keep Him..
Whether it’s at the gate or in your heart.
He weeps with you in hard times.
He IS the resurrection and the life.
Move… your… stone.
In Jesus’s name, amen.