If we call ourselves followers of Christ, i.e. Christians, our sole aim in life is to live as Jesus did. One thing for sure about Jesus is that He trusted the Father. From our earliest accounts in Genesis where God said, “26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (NKJV), we see Jesus acting in concert with the Father. We see Jesus trusting in the Father in the incarnation. We see Jesus trusting in the Father in cross and the resurrection. Why? We see Jesus convey TRUST: That Ends in God’s Glory.
Today, I am breaking away from Mark, but I am running to John. As I prayed with my wife earlier this morning, this is the passage God laid on my heart. TRUST: That Ends in God’s Glory is the result of reading and hearing from God. I am not sure about you, but I know in my life and in my daughter’s life, we tend to struggle with TRUST. Right now, my daughter is dealing with a matter about school that requires TRUST, but it is a struggle. Consequently, I am dealing with a matter about school that requires TRUST. It is in those Moments of Faith (MOF) that require us to TRUST God and not ourselves. It is in those MOF that require us to not accuse God of not being with us or for us. We must stand on the Word. We must remember He has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” We must remember to demonstrate TRUST: That Ends in God’s Glory .
In John 11, Jesus models this for us while Martha and Mary serve as our examples of how we respond to circumstances that cause us to question Jesus rather than trust in Jesus.
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.6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, 7 and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
8 “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”
9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. 10 It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”
11 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”
12 His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.”13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
14 So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
16 Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
28 After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.”29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
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.34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
35 Jesus wept.
36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said,“Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 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 sent me.”
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
God has said it all. Jesus told the disciples the situation with Lazarus happened “so that you may believe” Jesus told Martha that her brother, Lazarus, would rise again. Then He made it personal to her. He said, ““I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”” Lastly, Jesus said to Martha, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
That is God’s goal – to glorify Himself in the lives of those who follow Him. It was true for Martha. It is true for us. God wants us to TRUST Him. Why? It will result in TRUST: That Ends in God’s Glory. We know that without faith it is impossible to please God. All believers are expected to demonstrate faith in our circumstances regardless of how grave they may be. Like with Martha and Mary, both said if you had been here my brother would have died. We tend to blame God when our desired results do not unfold as we envisioned. We fail to remember that God is God. We fail to remember that He is the potter and we are the clay. God gave us this story to help us see and demonstrate TRUST: That Ends in God’s Glory.
I pray that we all realize that it is not good for us to blame God. Martha and Mary both told Jesus that if you had come when we called you my brother would not have died. Essentially, they were saying I called on you and you did not come. You let us down. You let our brother die. They blamed God for their circumstance. We, like Martha and Mary, tend to blame God when our circumstance does not end in the manner we desire. God desires that we TRUST Him. He told Martha “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” Do you believe this?
Will you TRUST Him today no matter our circumstance even the death of a loved one. “Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. 10 It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.” Walk in the Light, Jesus. and do not stumble. Hallelujah.
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