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MORNING MEDITATION
Glean the Word: John 11:1-44
Glimpse of Glory: "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" (v. 40).
Jesus performed His greatest miracle in raising Lazarus from the dead, and used it as an opportunity to glorify the Father. "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it" (v. 4). It can be difficult to reconcile how God can allow suffering and pain in the lives of those He loves, but His love is a perfecting love; and He uses our circumstances to strengthen us in our faith and to bring glory to God. "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all" (2 Corinthians 4:17). Our situation may at times seem discouraging, but it is not hopeless. The Lord is always at work supplying what we lack in our faith. The call of the believer is to walk by faith, and not by sight. True faith is demonstrated when we trust in God promises and are willing to obey Him despite our circumstances - it is then His power is released.
Our trials are for God's glory, and that knowledge should comfort us and carry us through the most desperate hours of our afflictions knowing that God is working out a far greater purpose than we could ever hope or imagine. In the case of Lazarus, the Lord could have healed His friend from a distance and prevented all the sorrow, suffering, and grief in the hearts of those He loved so dearly, but by resurrecting Lazarus after he had been dead for four days He displayed His power over the grave, and the glory of God was revealed, and many people came to believe in Him. "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26). Faith is a precious and sacred seed that God has planted in His children, and He is always at work growing and increasing it in our lives.
If we truly desire to see God's glory, then we have to let Him have His way to work His will in our life; and we must remember that this work He is doing will not happen overnight. So often in our suffering we tend to focus on the "What" or the "How" that our vision gets so clouded by our circumstances we can't see "Who" is at work in our lives. This morning, let us follow our Lord's example and lift our eyes to heaven and look upon our Sovereign God seated high upon the throne of grace, and ask Him to remove the stone that is blocking our view of His glory and making us think that our present situation is helpless and hopeless, so we can come forth from the tomb of unbelief and experience the fullness of His life. Prayer is the key that opens the treasure chest of omnipotence and releases an infinite supply of His mercy and grace to help us in our time of need. "Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven...The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" (James 5:13-15, 16b).
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