"Do You Believe This?"
The Wait of Faith
There’s a story in the eleventh chapter of John where Mary and Martha—sisters of the critically ill Lazarus—send word to Jesus. “Lord, the one you love is sick,” (v.3). Mary and Martha live in Bethany; Jesus is in Jerusalem just two short miles away. It’s only a forty-minute walk, but Jesus delays and thereby introduces that painful dimension of “wait” that we often abhor. In this wait however, Lazarus dies . . . and crisis of belief seeds begin to take root in the sisters.
John’s account tells us that Jesus declared, “This sickness will not end in death,” (v.4) but seemingly it has. John also tells us that Jesus loved Mary and Martha, which makes his extended delay even more perplexing. Is delay and wait any shade of love you embrace?
Ultimately, an impatient Martha intercepts Jesus on his overdue visit to Bethany. She gently scolds him. “Lord . . . if you had been here, my brother would not have died,” (v.21). I’ve often wondered how Martha delivered that message: was it laced with anger? Or just grievously whispered in tears of disappointment? Either way, a pillar of Martha’s belief has crumbled.
“Your brother will rise again,” says Jesus to Martha. He then discloses his divine nature, “I am the resurrection and the life . . . Do you believe this?” (v.25-26). Martha affirms Jesus’ identity, but it’s clear she has not reconciled all her pain and tension in her encounter with Jesus.
In the continuing narrative, Jesus makes his way to the tomb with Martha and Mary where he miraculously raises Lazarus from the dead. Then he says, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” (v.40).
How patient are you in the wait of faith? Do you believe that God can engineer a miracle in your life . . . or redeem dreadful circumstances? If you’re in a crisis of belief, will you exit with your faith intact? That’s the very personal story you’ll discover in New Reader Magazine blog #3, Surviving A Crisis of Belief. That story is lifted right from the pages of Metamorphyx: Embracing Life Experience, Life Change and Life Experience.
I pray it will bring you hope in the wait of faith.
