In Matthew 14 we read about how John the Baptist had been beheaded by Herod while he was in prison and John's disciples came and took his body and buried it, then they went and told Jesus.
I wonder why they buried him first before they told Jesus. What do you suppose made them wait?
Surely they had heard that Jesus had healed the sick, and raised the dead.
It seems we all sometimes wait until our situations are seemingly dead before we tell Jesus. We try to handle it ourselves. Perhaps we even bury it and expect it to never rise again. Only to see it resurrect itself looking scarier and smelling worse than ever.
Wouldn't life be better for us if we told Jesus sooner rather than later? Yes he already knows about our difficult sometimes stinky messy lives but he will not interfere unless we invite him to.
Martha and Mary made the decision to tell Jesus about their brother Lazarus being sick early on. But Jesus waited two days before he got involved and then by the time he arrived in Bethany Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the grave for four days. The sisters were hurt and disappointed that Jesus didn't show up sooner but they each continued to talk to Jesus about the situation.
It wasn't long before the sisters saw a miracle. The grave became grace! When you take the "v" out of grave and add a "c", you get grace! The "v" might represent the word "victim" while the "c" might represent "Christ"
Yes no doubt when we leave Jesus out of our lives and our situations we can become victims of a lot of things in this cruel world! But when we chose to tell Jesus about our troubles and concerns early on, grace gets involved. And we all need grace when the situations in our lives become "grave".
Are you facing a grave situation right now that needs some grace? Start telling Jesus about it. And if he doesn't seem to be helping don't give up and stop praying! Be like Martha and Mary were in John 11. They kept talking to Jesus and he kept telling them to believe and they would see the glory of God.
Perhaps, if John's disciples would of told Jesus sooner things would have been different. Perhaps if they would have asked him to resurrect John the Baptist, he would have. He certainly could have done that for sure. Sometimes grave issues in our lives don't change because we don't ask for grace from Jesus, or we don't believe that anything can be done about it. We have the belief instead that it is just too late.
Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life. It is never too late. Do you need some things resurrected in your life that are dead or on the verge of dying? Go tell Jesus now! Don't bury it and give up. Jesus is ready to take off the "grave" clothes and speak life to some dead things in your life. Ask for his grace today.
John 11:25
Jesus said..."I am the resurrection and the life...do you believe this?"
John 11:21
"Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask."
John 11:38-44
Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. “Take away the stone,” he said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
Dear Jesus,
We are so thankful for your Word that teaches us that we should invite you to be part of our lives and that we should believe in the miraculous when we do. Forgive us for the times that we have not told you things and invited you to help us. Forgive us for trying to fix things ourselves only to watch it die and be buried.
Jesus we come to you now and invite you to resurrect any dead things in our lives that we have buried and not told you about. Please help us by giving us your grace that is sufficient for us. We will keep praying and believing even if you tarry. We believe that you are working the miraculous in these things now.
In your name we pray Jesus, amen.
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