Seeing the Big Picture

Welcome to Living in the Light with Anne Graham Lottes. There's more to life than feeling good and being healthy and happy and problem free and released from suffering. There's more to life than having him answer our prayers just the way we want them answered. And the more to life is that our faith would be developed until our very lives display his glory. Thank you for joining us for this week's Living in the Light with the Bible Teaching Ministry of Anne Graham Lottes. The message today, called Seeing the Big Picture, is realizing that suffering develops our faith and nothing is more contrary to our personal comfort or more challenging to our faith than death, especially that of a loved one.

Here's Anne with a story and a message with which we can all identify. Would you open your Bibles to the Gospel of John chapter 11? We're going to look at a very familiar passage, the story of Lazarus, but perhaps we're going to look at it from a little different perspective. And if you're suffering or if you know someone who is suffering, maybe the Lord will give you some encouragement and also help to lift up your eyes and help you see the big picture.

So Jesus makes suffering understandable because number one, suffering develops our faith because when you're suffering you need Jesus, especially when bad things happen to those that you love. Verse one, now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.

And this Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who had poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. And we find that Jesus has a family in Bethany that he loves. And Bethany was about two miles from Jerusalem.

It was situated on the Mount of Olives. It was a town that Jesus, almost like his second home, I guess we could say. He had lived in Nazareth but he spent a lot of time in Bethany. And Bethany was the point from which he began his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. It was a point from which he ascended into heaven.

And during that last week of his life, he would go to the temple in Jerusalem to teach during the day but at night he would slip over to Bethany and say, I'm assuming in the home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus. And the reason he loved Bethany so much was because of that family. And I'm going to assume that Martha was the oldest because she's bossy like my older sister. You have an older sister like that?

Practical, always in charge, telling people what to do. Luke tells us that she threw a dinner party and invited guests and she did like I do. Sometimes you get so busy putting on the meal that you can't enjoy the company when it comes. And Jesus said, Martha, you're busy about so many things but you're missing enjoying me. And so I'm assuming that Martha was the oldest but in verse five it says that Jesus loved Martha.

Don't miss that. And I'm going to assume that Mary was the middle one. She was quiet, or she seems to me anyway, quiet, sensitive. I don't think she ever missed her devotional time. During that same dinner party she had done what she needed to do but then she sat at the feet of Jesus to hear his word.

So she had her priorities in order. In this particular passage her faith seems sort of weak but verse five says that Jesus loved Mary and we know she was devoted to him because she took her dowry which represented her future. All of her hope for the future and she just broke it and poured it over the feet of Jesus. And the youngest one I'm going to assume was Lazarus and I could be wrong about this. It's been suggested that Lazarus was the rich young ruler. You remember when he came to Jesus and he said, Jesus, what do I have to do to go to heaven? And Jesus said, well you have to keep the Ten Commandments and do all these things. And the rich young ruler said, I've done all those things. And Jesus said, then go sell everything you have and come and follow me.

Put me first in your life. And the rich young ruler turned away. He was sad because he had many possessions. Now I don't know if that was Lazarus or not but wouldn't that be interesting if it was? And he turned away refusing to put God first in his life and then look at what Jesus does for him.

So we don't know. We do know that it was a wealthy family because they had their own burial cave. They were able to put on a feast like that for their friends and then Mary had that enormous dowry, that ointment she poured over Jesus's feet.

So they were a well-to-do family. Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Verse five, in fact verse three also says that Jesus loved Lazarus.

So I just want you to get this. This is a family Jesus loved and Lazarus was sick. Verse three, the girls sent word to Jesus, Lord the one you love is sick. Did you think when something bad happened to somebody that you loved it was evidence that God didn't love them? Did you think when something bad happened to somebody that you love it was evidence that God wasn't blessing them? That maybe he was punishing them in some way? I just want you to underline that in your Bible that Lazarus was sick but he was someone Jesus loved and when bad things happen to you or bad things happen to those that you love it is not a sign that Jesus is trying to punish you. It's not a sign that he doesn't love you. It's not a sign that you lack his blessing in your life.

All right? So Lazarus was sick and Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus letting him know that he was sick. Who is your Lazarus? Who is the one that you love who's suffering? And are they suffering physically? Are they suffering emotionally? Are they suffering mentally? Are they suffering spiritually?

Suffering in their family or their business or just their just their own relationships? Maybe it's somebody here who is Lazarus. Maybe it's literally your Lazarus. Maybe it's your brother.

Maybe it's a sister or a friend or a neighbor. Jesus loved Lazarus and Lazarus was suffering and because Lazarus was suffering those that loved Lazarus were suffering also. Mary and Martha were suffering right along with Lazarus and when we are suffering or somebody that we love is suffering we need Jesus because we feel so helpless when bad things happen.

But I'll tell you it gets worse than that because we can feel hopeless when God seems hidden at the same time. And Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus. They prayed and they said Lord the one you love is sick. And in verse four when Jesus heard this he said the sickness will not end in death.

It's for God's glory so that God's son may be glorified through it. Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick he stayed where he was two more days. Has God delayed answering your prayer? Has God seemed to be hiding in your life?

His delays can be confusing can't they? And Jesus delayed answering their prayer. Has God silenced?

You've asked them and you've told them about your loved one who is ill and the one who is suffering and nothing seems to happen. You know what happened after Martha prayed? After she told Jesus that Lazarus was sick things got worse and Lazarus died.

And after you have started praying for your loved one who is suffering have things gotten worse instead of better? And you say God where are you? And he's delaying answering your prayer.

What in the world? And for those of you who feel sorry for Lazarus let me just tell you that he was already dead when Jesus got the message. The messenger left Bethany and went to where Jesus was in the Transjordan. That took one day and Jesus delayed two days. Then it would take Jesus a day to get from Transjordan back to Bethany.

That's four days. When he got to Bethany he found that Lazarus had been dead four days. Lazarus must have died shortly after the messenger left Bethany. But never mind Jesus would have known that he was sick even before Mary and Martha prayed. But Jesus didn't do anything about it. He let Lazarus die.

Why? I think could it be that he was allowing Lazarus to die and delaying answering Mary and Martha's prayer to bring them to that point of desperation when they had no hope except Jesus. And he was using this situation to develop their faith in him and in him alone. And if he's delaying in your life and he's not answering your prayer have you thought it's because he didn't hear your prayer? Did you think it's because he heard and he didn't care? Did you think he cared and he just wasn't able to do something about it? And you get so frustrated with his delays. God if you loved me you would answer.

Don't you hear? And he delays and he can be silent because he's developing your faith and he wants to bring your focus and place it in him and him alone. And sometimes during those delays we try everything else don't we? We go through the whole list of things and you know call everybody and look to the doctor and the lawyer and the counselor and we're just going all over the place until finally we're just left with nothing but Jesus. And he's beginning to develop our faith in him and him alone but his ways can be confusing.

Not only his delays but his ways because in verse 7 he finally says let's go back to Judea. But rabbi the disciples said a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you and yet you're going back there? This doesn't make sense. We don't understand your ways. You know you do some of the strangest things. You know has God done some strange things in your life?

Sometimes his word is confusing and his ways are confusing. I wonder what Joshua thought when he went you know and he was surveying Jericho and to see how to take this stronghold and he was a military general and there he is looking at Jericho and the captain of the Lord's host comes to him and says Joshua take off your sandals. The ground on which you're standing is holy.

You're in God's presence. Then he said Joshua I'm going to tell you how to take Jericho. It's not going to be by might and it's not going to be by power. It's going to be by my spirit. You march around Jericho once a day every day for seven days. The seventh day you march around seven times. Don't say a word but at the end of the seventh time you can blow the trumpets and the walls are going to come down. Right. What's your plan B Lord?

Just in case that doesn't work you know. And Joshua did it and the walls came down. You remember Gideon and the Midianites were spread out there. They looked like grasshoppers. There were so many of them and Gideon mustered up his army.

I think he had 30,000 troops. By the time God finished with them he had 300 and God says take your 300 men. Tell them to get torches. Put them in pots.

Go up on the mountaintop at night. Bust the pots. Blow your trumpet. Hold up the torch. You know it just seems so illogical.

Didn't it? What in the world is that going to have to do with thousands and thousands and thousands of enemy troops? But Gideon did it and he was victorious. They defeated the Midianites and Proverbs says trust in the Lord with all your heart. Don't lean to your own understanding your own good common sense.

You know women have so much common sense and sometimes that's a downfall that's a downfall isn't it? We can be so practical and so filled with common sense and we lean on that instead of trusting in the Lord with all of our hearts. Leaning not to our own understanding but in all of our ways acknowledge him and he'll direct our paths and sometimes the things he does are just contrary to logic and human wisdom and what we would have thought and so now not only has he delayed going back but now he's decided to go back and previously when he was there they had tried to kill him and now he's going back to that very place so he tells his disciples we're going back verse 11 after he said this he went on to tell them our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep but I'm going there to wake him and his disciples replied Lord if he sleeps he'll get better and Jesus had been speaking of his death. His disciples thought he meant natural sleep. His words can be confusing.

We can just misunderstand sometimes what he says. We just get so confused not understanding what he says not understanding what he's doing and finally he just tells them plain out Lazarus is dead and for your sake I'm glad. Wait a minute Lazarus is dead and for your sake I'm glad I wasn't there? He was glad Lazarus had died? You know you might wrap yourself around that truth because there's more to life than feeling good and being healthy and happy and problem-free and released from suffering. There's more to life than having him answer our prayers just the way we want them answered and the more to life is that our faith would be developed until our very lives display his glory and he's glad not for the bad thing to happen to us he does not enjoy seeing his children afflicted and hurt and suffering but he's glad that you have the opportunity and that I have the opportunity to grow in our faith and display his glory because that's the very purpose for our creation. That's why we were created that we might enjoy him but that we might also display his glory in our lives and so Jesus was glad and it can seem confusing at the time but in the end we understand and so Jesus tells them they're going back and he's glad even though Isaiah says he doesn't willingly afflict the children of men and in all of our afflictions he's afflicted and Jesus understands our pain and he understands our suffering but he allows it for a purpose and Paul do you remember when he prayed he had a thorn in the flesh and we don't know what the thorn was it wasn't an irritation it was more like a stake that impaled him something drastic and he prayed three times that God would remove it and God didn't and you think God hasn't answered your prayer because he doesn't love you or he doesn't approve of you if you've done something bad or there's sin in your life listen the apostle Paul prayed that God would deliver him and God didn't and in the end Paul said I've understood now that it's in my weakness he's strong and that God's grace is sufficient and therefore I will glory in my infirmity have you reached the point you can glory in your infirmity you glory in your weakness not because you enjoy infirmity or enjoy weakness but you love the opportunity to display his glory in your life so other people look at you and they see Jesus in you just like me walking into my mother's bedroom and I can see Jesus in my mother and I'm not glad she's hurting but I praise God at the end of her life he's given her this wonderful opportunity to display his glory and his character in her life and so we need Jesus for that don't we we can't do that on our own in fact on my own when I'm suffering I'm grouchy I'm easily irritated everything bothers me rubs me the wrong way I'm quick to jump off you know and everybody looks at me and says well she's just being natural you know that's just Ann and but when I'm suffering and it can be just not big suffering like cancer or surgery or death but it can be you know irritations like the toast burning and the children screaming and your husband fussing and the phone ringing and somebody knocking at the door and you just lose it and when those irritations happen or maybe it's a big thing that you're going through but you're still thoughtful and still loving and still enjoying the Lord and still looking for opportunities to share him and still helping other people other people look at you and say that's not natural that must be Jesus in you you see and so for this we need Jesus for this we have Jesus oh don't think his delays mean that he doesn't care or that he's not going to come and intervene Jesus delayed but then he walked one day's journey over the hot dry Judean hills until he came to Bethany and in verse 17 on his arrival Jesus found Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem many Jews had come to Mary and Martha to comfort them in the loss of their brother when Martha heard Jesus was coming she ran out to meet him but Mary stayed at home and Martha knew the presence of Jesus in her life when she was suffering now I'll tell you something all through scripture you see this that Jesus draws near to those who are suffering you remember the three Hebrew men in the old testament and they were slaves captured by Nebuchadnezzar dragged off to Babylon trained in his service and then all of the officials of the land including these three Hebrew slaves were commanded to bow down before Nebuchadnezzar's statue of gold and they refused because they bowed to only one god and so Nebuchadnezzar threw them into the fiery furnace and you remember the fire was so hot it burned up the guards that threw them in and then Nebuchadnezzar's bearing in the fiery furnace and he says wait a minute didn't we send three men in there and they said yes and but I see four and the fourth is like the son of god Jesus drawing near to those who are suffering John on the isle of Patmos do you remember suffering for the word of his testimony and because of the word of god in exile on Patmos and he turns around and he sees Jesus a vision of his glory I think John forgot all about his suffering because he knew the presence of Jesus right there in his life while he was suffering now his circumstances didn't change but Jesus was there and so Jesus comes to Mary and Martha in the midst of their suffering and Isaiah chapter 43 promises but now this is what the Lord says the one who created you and formed you fear not for I have redeemed you I have called you by my name you are mine when you pass through the waters I'll be with you when you pass through the rivers they will not sweep over you and when you walk when you pass through the rivers they will not sweep over you and when you walk through the fire you will not be burned the flames will not set you ablaze for I am the Lord your God the holy one of Israel your savior you are precious and honored in my sight and I love you and Jesus comes into your life when you're suffering and you can know his presence while you're suffering in a way you don't when you're not and there is a sweetness and an intimacy and just something very precious about having him walk with you through your suffering when you walk through the valley of the shadow of death don't be afraid I'll be with you the shepherd says and you have the promise of his presence you have the promise of his power also in verse 21 Lord Martha said to Jesus if you had been here my brother wouldn't have died Lord you're late have you ever felt like saying that you know if you had answered my prayer last week you know that this outcome would be different but now it's too late look what's happened and Lord I just told you if you do this and this and it would be all right and you didn't do it now look you're late you didn't answer on time does God seem late in your life sometimes he moves so slow but he's always on time it's just his time is different than ours Martha runs out Lord you're late and she says my brother would not have died but I know even now God will give you whatever you ask and you see a little glimmer of faith don't you she's not quite totally helpless or hopeless because Jesus is here and you see her beginning to have a little faith and so Jesus said to her your brother will rise again verse 24 Martha said I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day Jesus says Martha you have the promise of my power and she says Lord I know I'll have your power tomorrow and Jesus is trying to get across to her Martha you have my power in your life right now today and if you've been looking to the power of Jesus you know tomorrow next week in the resurrection at the last day but you don't understand that the one who is the resurrection of life is present in your life now and you have his power today and he promises you his power in your life he came to Martha and he said Martha verse 25 I am the resurrection and the life if you believe in me whoever believes in me will live even though he dies and whoever lives and believes in me will never die do you believe this do you believe this you know when you're suffering I would challenge you to do what Jesus is doing with Martha ask Jesus to give you a promise ask him to give you something he doesn't expect you to place your faith on thin air you know just a hope so ask him to give you a verse from scripture something from his word I remember when my son went into surgery for cancer and the doctor was very concerned because there was evidence Jonathan had had it for six years and before he dealt with it and the doctor was just telling me the worst but in my heart there was total peace because God had spoken to me through his word and told me Jonathan was going to be okay that he was going to suffer for a while but he was going to be all right he would live and I could go into that with peace and the peace came from nothing except basing my faith on his word and I would encourage you and challenge you if you're suffering if your loved one is suffering ask God to give you a promise and you place your faith not in yourself and not in what a doctor says or not in somebody else or not just in a hope so but in the word of God place it in Jesus and Jesus gave Martha a promise and it was a promise of his power he said Martha I am the resurrection in life and he was just taking her faith and funneling it and so she placed it nowhere except in him and him alone that's one of the secrets to answers to answers to prayer one of the secrets to getting a miracle when you place your faith in Jesus and Jesus alone it's one reason I love to minister in third world countries you wouldn't believe what Jesus does for these people the miracles the answers to prayer it's exciting and to hear them pray you just open your eyes expecting him to be right there there is such faith because all they have is Jesus now here's Ann with this final word do you believe Jesus can make a way when there is no way when there is no recourse when there's no answer when there's no help when there is no other way when there is no remedy when there's no solution when there's nobody that there is hope if you have Jesus where is your focus if you're suffering is your focus on the pain or the problems the pain produces or people who don't seem to understand or help you as you think they should are you desperate enough to place your faith in Jesus alone listen to me one reason Jesus allows us to suffer is so that our faith is developed until it rests in him alone that kind of faith peter says in first peter one seven is more precious than gold this has been living in the light please take advantage of all the free resources at anne gramm lots.org to help and encourage you in your walk with god and in your study of his word join us here each week for living in the light