“And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.” (Joh 11:15 AV)
The context is Lazarus’ death and resurrection. The suggestion is, had Jesus returned days earlier, Lazarus would not have died. This was the observation of both the disciples, and later, the mourners. Whatever took Lazarus’ life, it was assumed a Messiah who could open the eyes of the blind and cause the lame to walk could have healed Lazarus. This suggests, then, that the death of Lazarus was part of the plan of God. God allowed tragedy when tragedy could have been avoided. At least momentarily. Lazarus would eventually die one more time. But he didn’t have to die that first time. Jesus explicitly states His delay was for the furtherance and growth of the faith of His disciples. Note also that it made Jesus glad. As much as it hurt those who mourned Lazarus, God was pleased with the opportunity for faith-growing. From our perspective, it may be uncomfortable. It may even be painful. But growing in faith is what our existence is all about. Faith is the basis for a deeper relationship with the LORD. If we do not learn to trust, then we cannot love.
Faith can only grow if it is tested. One clip I find insane is bungee jumping. I am quickly becoming addicted to short videos. It is a whole lot better than what Hollywood can produce. Real people doing real things or teach profitable subject matter that improves our lives. No commercials that are offensive. We can pick and choose our content as our interests vary. I cannot remember what clip it was, but I watched this man bungee jump off a very high bridge. It looked like he was having the time of his life. He didn’t go off the edge with little zeal. No! He ran to the edge, jumped off, and did some spins and tumbles on the way down. The reason this clip was popular was the bungee chord was not easily seen at first. It appeared as though the fella was free-jumping off a bridge with no parachute. The fact he ran made one think there was no chord attached to his feet. Then I got to thinking about this. First, I would never, ever, ever, base jump in any form! However, if my life depended on it, I would want to see a weight equivalent to mine go first. I need to see that the chord could handle the stress. However, not until I jump off that bridge and come to a safe stop would I ever say I have complete faith in that chord. My heart would be pounding. My palms would be drenched. I would almost throw-up! The only way to learn to trust that chord is to subject oneself to a very stressful situation.
God is not cruel! He isn’t. What He is asking we do with our own children. We put them is stressful situations that force them to learn to trust. We might throw them in the air and catch them. At first, they might be terrified. But soon enough, they are laughing and asking for more. We might start them off holding them up as they learn to walk. But there has to come a time when we let go. It is at these times, our children learn the depth of relationship they can have as they learn to trust. As an adolescent looks up to his or her father’s eyes with that look that says, “I completely trust you and feel totally safe” is the moment you, as a parent, know that that child loves you. Both child and parent are bound in love, honesty, mutual care, and respect. This is what the LORD is accomplishing as He asks us to trust Him. It is not cruel. What He is doing is producing a much deeper relationship with Him that can come no other way. No doubt, fewer tears would have been shed had Lazarus not died. No doubt his sisters would not have felt pain. But those things will return the second time Lazarus dies. The difference is, the second time around, they will believe in the resurrection because of what Jesus did and the pain will be immensely less. We may not appreciate the trials of faith as they happen, but in the long run, they increase our faith toward God and our love for God.
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