The only way for us to know God,
is that He reveals Himself to us. Jesus’ disciples had seen Him resurrect people
that had only been dead a short time, but to raise Lazarus after he was already
decaying in the tomb proved to them that Jesus is truly the Resurrection and
the Life. According to John 11:42, that was the purpose… that they may believe
Jesus was sent by God. Those that loved Lazarus (and even Lazarus himself) was
uncomfortable for a while but afterward they knew God in a brand-new way. And
not only them, but us too as we study this passage. John 11:45 says many
believed in Him as a result of Lazarus’ resurrection.
It was the same with the man born
blind in John 9. How many millions of us know God better because of the blind man whom Jesus healed?
Jesus said of that man, that the works of God should be revealed through him,
is why he was born blind. For a season, the blind man had hardship but it literally
had an eternal impact.
Prior to entering the Promised
Land, the children of Israel wondered in the wilderness for 40 years, and ate
manna. When they were finally able to enjoy milk and honey, it had a much
greater impact because of their wilderness experience. God could’ve easily
rained down milk and honey instead of manna, but He didn’t. The other day, I
heard a song by TobyMac where he sang to God, “Through all these seasons — I’m
still believing — You’re my promised land.” That gives new life to the milk and
honey motif. Christ said, “In Him we have ‘perissos’ (quality of life)” John
10:10. Perissos is the Greek word for "life abundantly." That beats material things every day of the week.
Joseph said to his brothers, that
they meant evil against him, but God meant it for good. Everything Joseph went
through was preparing him to be Emperor over Egypt. In that role, he was able
to save many, many lives from extinction. Everything the enemy meant for evil,
God meant for Joseph’s good. It could’ve been so easy for Joseph to become
frustrated in his faith because all he had was a dream that kept going in
opposite directions. But one morning (many years later), it unexpectedly came
true.
Apostle Paul said, “We speak the
wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the
ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they
known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory (1Cor 2:7-8). Many times,
the mysteries of God is hidden from us too, because all we can see is the
trouble we’re facing. On purpose, Jesus lingered two more days before heading
to Bethany after Mary and Martha had summoned for Him… fully intending to find
Lazarus dead. He said to His disciples, “For your sakes, I am glad that I was
not there to heal him so that you may believe” (John 11:15). The only way
for us to know God, is that He reveals Himself to us.
Both Mary and Martha expressed
their disappointment by saying to Jesus, “If You had been here my brother
wouldn’t have died.” Jesus did answer their prayers, just not in the way they had
expected. Lazarus’ sickness was not unto death, but it did include death, that
they could believe in Him. As a result, they knew God in a better way and so do
we when we study their story.
In that same story, when Jesus encountered
Mary and Martha’s disappointment, John 11:35 says that He also wept. Jesus is
fully God, but also fully man with human emotions. The love of God was fully in
His heart and He was moved by their grief. Even knowing that He would raise Lazarus,
He wept with them.
There’s a German Shepherd that
lives next door to us. Their fence is about 10 feet outside the window to my
home office, where I’m studying and trying to concentrate. That dog barked
incessantly for many days (over a year) and got on my last nerve. Many prayers
had gone up but no response coming back. When I couldn’t take it anymore I was
yelling at God to the top of my lungs because He was tormenting me with this dog
while I’m trying to study His word. It was definitely a mystery. God
interrupted my yelling and said, “Where I’m taking you, you will experience
people barking at you and I need to prepare you for that.” When God was all
done using that dog to teach me how to not become distracted by noise, He quieted
the dog. He still lives 10 feet outside my office but he rarely ever barks
anymore. Even when he does, I’m not paying attention to it. Now what I hear is
the beautiful chirping and singing of birds outside my window. 😊 He’s making up for the dog.
Many times, I’ve wished that God
and I could meet at Starbucks and talk things out. That never happened. But He
daily reveals Himself to me through activities He is orchestrating, even as He
did through my misunderstanding of His glory. I couldn’t imagine why He’s
putting people through disappointments and hardship when He has the ability to
make it stop. Scripture says that He does it for His glory. That troubled me
even more, because we’re suffering so He can look good? That didn’t seem right
to me, that God would use us as pawns in His chess game with the devil. The
only way for us to know God, is that He reveals Himself to us. That is the
mystery of the glory of God. It is not so He can sit on His throne and
gloat.
He hid Moses in the cleft of the rock.
We are hidden in the Rock, Christ Jesus. The
LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom
I will trust (Ps 18:2). While His glory passed by, Moses couldn’t see His face,
but He let Moses see His back. In the same way, we may not see God coming but
after He’s passed we definitely know we’ve just had an encounter with God.