His Word, My Death

"Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (It was that Mary which anointed tthe Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) Therefore the sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick." Luke 11:1-3

"When he heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was." Luke 11:6

"Then when Jesus camee, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already." Luke 11:17

"Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw hi, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." Luke 11:32

"Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of hi that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh:for he hath been dead four days. Jesus said unto her, Said I not unto you thee, that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? Then they took away the stone fro the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always:but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth," Luke 11:39-44a

Not only did Lazarus die but so did the hope of Mary and Martha. Once their brother had died, instead of requesting a miracle, they instead spoke of what could have been... if only Jesus would have shown up earlier. For them, and probably for Lazarus also, a healing was all that was required. This is such a familiar story to most of us but would we have heard about it if Jesus would have merely healed him like he did thousands of others?  Would we have miraculous hope if Jesus would have hastened to Lazarus and spoke the words of healing rather than words of resurrection?

I think that Lazarus and his sisters would have been among the countless others that were healed but are nameless in the Bible. There wouldn't have been skits and songs today if Jesus hadn't waited to go to them. Sometimes God waits until our hope has died and we are left with just the ashes of what could have been. His desire isn't to punish us but to strengthen our foundation of faith and give us a testamony that will benefit the kingdom of Heaven. So when your situation looks impossible and your hope is taking its last breath, take joy in knowing that this is exactly where Martha and Mary found themselves. It took the death of their brother and the death of their hope for Jesus to do more than the ordinary. It took the situation being impossible for God to do the extraordinary. "For with God nothing shall be impossible." Luke 1:37