BibleScribbler

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Sometimes God Doesn't Show Off Too Much Too Fast

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v.22 “But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” This statement by Martha is curious to me. What did she have in mind? The following statements show she wasn’t expecting him to come back to life right then.

I think Jesus shows so much mercy by not deliberately telling Martha what is about to happen. If He would have said to the disciples or Martha “I’m going to raise Lazarus from the dead right now.” they would have laughed or scoffed or somehow fully shown their unbelief.
Rather than force them to indite themselves, Jesus carries them along slowly. He hints that Lazarus is asleep, then that HE IS the resurrection, and then that everyone who believes in Him will live… God slowly builds us towards revealing Himself, because He knows if we got it all in one shot it would be too much for us to bare. (proof that this ISN‚ÄôT true is time when Jesus blew people away w/ His presence. i.e. Peter in the boat falling on his face, etc.)
One time Mary Poplin asked Mother Theresa to pray that God would show her what He was going to do with her life. Momma T said “No Way! If God would have shown me all of the stuff that I was going to do with my life, I would have gotten scared and quit at the very beginning!”
God is merciful with us, carrying us along, not giving us more than we can bear, but also not holding back if we seriously need to get a move-on in our faith/life.

Singular Experience and The Patient Power to Heal

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John 9 (ESV) As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, c ‚ÄúRabbi, d who sinned, e this man or f his parents, that he was born blind?‚Äù 3 Jesus answered, ‚ÄúIt was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but g that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We must h work the works of him who sent me i while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, j I am the light of the world.‚Äù 6 Having said these things, k he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. l Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud 7 and said to him, ‚ÄúGo, wash in m the pool of Siloam‚Äù (which means Sent). So he went and washed and n came back seeing.

Last night I told this story to the boys for their bedtime story and I realized that this man was blind for YEARS and lived a hard life for YEARS just so that the glory of God could be displayed in his life at this moment. We talk in our culture about “Experiencing God” and all sorts of feelings and events, but what if only one thing happened in your whole lifetime? Would you still follow Him? Our relationship with God should not be one like a dad trying to take a picture of his baby son. The dad makes a million noises and jumps around just to keep the baby looking at the camera, and the minute the dad is silent, the baby turns and crawls away. We should not be so with God.

This man had struggled through life as a blind beggar and God knew every moment of it. He knew the pain frustration of the blind man’s parents, and every blaming conversation they had with each other as all the other kids learned to read the Torah and help their parents with housework. Regardless of cause or origin, God saw all of that and on this day when the man was ‘of age’ as his bitter parents say later, God made His Son walk past Him with the power to heal.

One note that I saw mentioned a man in recent time that was born blind and had an operation as an adult that restored his sight. He had great difficulty for a while, because had to be taught a lot about color and vocabulary, since all his life he had heard, touched, smelled, and tasted things without seeing them. The note said that Jesus did even more than give the man sight, but did something to his mind to comprehend everything that he could suddenly see. That would fit right with the lame people being able to instantly walk and dance without a slow rehab process. It just goes to show that when Jesus heals, He does it completely.