Hi friends <3 It was my intention to publish a new blog post today, but this day took a different path. I hope you don't mind me re-posting an old article <3 I really couldn't have spoken my heart any better today than through these old words. Look for a brand new post on Thursday! “Jesus wept.” In John 11 I see a picture of Jesus that is so beautiful. His love and His grace to us are seen in everything He does in this chapter. Lazarus, a close friend of Jesus, is sick in this chapter and it is obviously a very serious sickness. His sisters--Mary and Martha--send to Jesus and tell Him that Lazarus is sick. In their message of “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick” (John 11:3), I can almost sense the urgency, the plea. Can’t you just imagine? Your brother whom you love deeply is sick and possibly dying. There is nothing you can do, but you reach out to Jesus and beg Him to come. You believe that if He comes, He can heal your brother. And yet, Jesus didn’t come right away. He stayed where He was for two days after receiving the message. It was only after two days, that He said to His disciples, “Let’s go to Judea.” I see this and I wonder why He didn’t go right away. He was going to heal Lazarus anyway, so why didn’t He just go right away? God surely would’ve been glorified either way. Why couldn’t He have just spared all the pain that Mary and Martha were sure to face after their brother’s death? And I wonder this because I am only human and I can’t see the whole picture. Yet I am thankful for a Savior that does see the whole picture. My heart is broken in the next scene as I see both Martha and Mary say to Jesus the same thing (John 11:21, 32) “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” Where were You? And my heart hurts for them because I often wonder the same thing. I wonder why He didn’t come right away when I thought I needed Him to fix things immediately. I wonder where He was when everything is falling down around me. We see the picture of Mary at the feet of Jesus, weeping and basically asking Him why He wasn’t there when they all needed Him most. And then we see a beautiful picture of Jesus… “Jesus wept.” (John 11:35) Jesus is weeping and I wonder why. He knows that He is going to raise Lazarus from the dead. He knows that everything is going to be okay and the sisters will be reunited with their brother very soon. So why does He cry? I believe that Jesus was weeping for Mary. He was weeping for Martha. He was weeping for the Jews who were weeping. He was weeping for the pain Lazarus had endured through His sickness that led to death. The Bible doesn’t tell us why Jesus wept. But I believe He was weeping for their pain. Because they didn’t know the whole picture, like He did. He knew what was going to happen. They didn’t. All they knew at the time was that they were hurting and they wanted answers. And in that moment, Jesus wept with them. He wept for their pain because He loved them. And so it is with us. Life is hard. Things don’t go our way. Things hurt us. We lose people we love. We are hurt by people we love. We feel abandoned. We feel lonely. We stand there asking, “Why? Where were You?” And the whole time Jesus is standing there, right next to us, weeping with us. Catching all of our tears and weeping every time our heart breaks in two. I don’t know what you may be going through. I don’t know how your heart may be hurting. I don’t know how you are suffering. But He does. He knows. And He weeps for you too. You may wonder how God could possibly be glorified through a situation as deep and dark as yours is right now. I’m sure Mary and Martha felt the same way. Their brother had just died and I’m sure they felt hopeless and alone. Maybe they even felt betrayed by Jesus. But He was right, as He always is. God was glorified more through the death of Lazarus and the brokenness of the situation, more than if Jesus had come and healed him right away. Jesus knew what He was doing. No matter how broken your heart is or how messed up your situation may be, God can and will be glorified through it if you hang on and wait for Him. Mary and Martha waited 4 days. You may have to wait 4 days, 4 weeks, or 4 decades, but trust Him enough to wait. He will come; there is no doubt about that. And when He comes, He will perform a glorious miracle that makes all the suffering and pain worth it. But until then, always remember. He is weeping with you. And He has you in the palm of His hand.
8 Comments
1/30/2018 07:26:00 pm
This is powerful, Bella. Thank you for sharing your beautiful message, even in a time like this. You constantly inspire me.
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Bella Morganthal
2/2/2018 10:57:34 pm
Thank you so much, Livy! You mean so much to me <3
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Anna P.
2/2/2018 04:39:12 pm
This post is so encouraging and comforting...knowing that we are in the palm of His hand. He is our refuge! Thank you so much for sharing this with us! <3
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Bella Morganthal
2/2/2018 10:58:19 pm
Absolutely, thank you for your comment, Anna! So true! <3
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Bella Morganthal
2/8/2018 12:32:29 pm
Thank you for commenting, Sara! Praying God sends you reminders of His love for you today <3
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Mom
2/4/2018 05:52:19 pm
Aweomse post my sweet Bella! A beautiful reminder of Jesus’s love for us and that He is always with us . He has the perfect timing in everything . And He works all things together for our good .
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Bella Morganthal
2/8/2018 12:35:17 pm
Thanks, Mom! :)
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