Heartbreak . . . and Glory
Lazarus is dead. And for your sakes, I'm glad I wasn't there, for now you will really believe.
— John 11:14-15
Have you ever had a crisis overwhelm you—maybe even to the point where you didn't think you could survive the experience? Have you ever found yourself facing a set of circumstances so crushing, so utterly devastating that you couldn't imagine how you could ever get through? Have you ever wondered why God allowed a tragedy in your life or in the life of someone close to you?
Perhaps you have found yourself saying, in so many words, "Lord, where were You?"
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In John 11, the Bible gives us a true-life account of two sisters who had to wrestle with all of those questions. It's the story of an unexpected death and how it brought a great trial of faith and shattered the happiness of a close-knit little family. But it is also the story of how Jesus responds to such situations—and how God can gain glory through it all.
In our lives here on earth, we will experience pain, grief, sickness, and the death of loved ones. I know that may be a depressing point, but it's true, and we might just as well come to grips with it and stop running from it. It might be the death of a spouse, an infant, a teenager, a sibling, or someone who might be close to us in age. And suddenly we are made aware of our own mortality.
That was the case with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. They were a tight, loving little family, and then suddenly one of them was at the point of death. But ironically, it was through this experience that they learned even more about the power and love of Jesus Christ.
Jesus said to His grieving friend Martha, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" (John 11:40).
It's not easy to believe in the goodness and glory of God when your heart is breaking. But when you do, when you rest your full faith and confidence in God — even when nothing else on earth seems to make sense — you will never, never be the loser . . . in this life or the next.
