I was fortunate; from an early age I was forced to rely upon myself to obtain many of the things that other people take for granted. My Dad used to say to me: “If you want something for yourself, get a job and work for it” - I’m not going to give you anything that I do not have to. Sounds harsh- and it was. However, throughout my life (until I retired of course) I always worked. The very idea of government assistance was abhorrent to me. The down side of this work ethic is that if one ALWAYS relies upon themselves, then God is taken out of the picture. But, there are times when no matter what you do, how hard you try to control things – you simply cannot do it.
The following passage from the book of John relates one of those times…
John 11 ( World English Bible )
Joh 11:1, Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, of the village of Mary and her sister, Martha.
Joh 11:2, It was that Mary who had anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother, Lazarus, was sick.
Joh 11:3, The sisters therefore sent to him, saying, “Lord, behold, he for whom you have great affection is sick.”
Joh 11:4, But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This sickness is not to death, but for the glory of God, that God’s Son may be glorified by it.”
Joh 11:5, Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.
Joh 11:6, When therefore he heard that he was sick, he stayed two days in the place where he was.
Joh 11:7, Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let’s go into Judea again.”
Joh 11:8, The disciples told him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and are you going there again?”
Joh 11:9, Jesus answered, “Aren’t there twelve hours of daylight? If a man walks in the day, he doesn’t stumble, because he sees the light of this world.
Joh 11:10, But if a man walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light isn’t in him.”
Joh 11:11, He said these things, and after that, he said to them, “Our friend, Lazarus, has fallen asleep, but I am going so that I may awake him out of sleep.”
Joh 11:12, The disciples therefore said, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.”
Joh 11:13, Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he spoke of taking rest in sleep.
Joh 11:14, So Jesus said to them plainly then, “Lazarus is dead.
Joh 11:15, I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe. Nevertheless, let’s go to him.”
Joh 11:16, Thomas therefore, who is called Didymus,* said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go also, that we may die with him.”
Joh 11:17, So when Jesus came, he found that he had been in the tomb four days already.
Joh 11:18, Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia* away.
Joh 11:19, Many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother.
Joh 11:20, Then when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary stayed in the house.
Joh 11:21, Therefore Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you would have been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.
Joh 11:22, Even now I know that, whatever you ask of God, God will give you.”
Joh 11:23, Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
Joh 11:24, Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
Joh 11:25, Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies.
Joh 11:26, Whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
Joh 11:27, She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, God’s Son, he who comes into the world.”
Joh 11:28, When she had said this, she went away, and called Mary, her sister, secretly, saying, “The Teacher is here, and is calling you.”
Joh 11:29, When she heard this, she arose quickly, and went to him.
Joh 11:30, Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was in the place where Martha met him.
Joh 11:31, Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and were consoling her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”
Joh 11:32, Therefore when Mary came to where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you would have been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.”
Joh 11:33, When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews weeping who came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,
Joh 11:34, and said, “Where have you laid him?” They told him, “Lord, come and see.”
Joh 11:35, Jesus wept.
Joh 11:36, The Jews therefore said, “See how much affection he had for him!”
Joh 11:37, Some of them said, “Couldn’t this man, who opened the eyes of him who was blind, have also kept this man from dying?”
Joh 11:38, Jesus therefore, again groaning in himself, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone lay against it.
Joh 11:39, Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”
Joh 11:40, Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see God’s glory?”
Joh 11:41, So they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying.* Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, “Father, I thank you that you listened to me.
Joh 11:42, I know that you always listen to me, but because of the multitude that stands around I said this, that they may believe that you sent me.”
Joh 11:43, When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”
Joh 11:44, He who was dead came out, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Free him, and let him go.”
Over 40 years ago, one of my instructors in preaching school used to say: Let go and Let God. That message still applies today. There are some things we just cannot control and death is one of them. Now, all we really have to do is to genuinely trust God with The big things like DEATH and then gradually learn to trust God with others things. Perhaps someday we will all learn to trust God in everything. I await that day.
ps. The saying in the picture is what caught my eye, but it wasn’t until I looked a little closer and saw the background Rose that I realized that it was meant for ME. Practice what you preach - Gary
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