Glory in Death

It’s been a really long time since I’ve let my thoughts stream like this.  I can’t promise fluid transitions, conclusionary sentences and the like…just felt like sharing.

I was reading John 11 this morning…it’s the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.  Lazarus was very ill…his sisters sent a message to Jesus…He sent a message back basically saying, “Chill, it’ll be all good” (obviously,  my words) and decided to stay where He was.  While reading,  a  couple of verses struck me.  When He finally came, Martha (sister) said in verse 21 (AMP), “Master, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”  And later in the chapter, the Jews were saying how, surely, He could have prevented the death.  This gave rise to the most random question in my mind…Is it God’s preference to keep the living from dying or to resurrect a thing?  It’s crazy…we seem to fear death and often exhaust ourselves trying to keep the living alive.  People…dreams…relationships, etc.  And of course because, naturally, you want to see it through.  To us, dying signifies the end of life.  But what if it’s really the beginning?  Which brings me to the earlier verse in the chapter (4) that struck me..

“When Jesus received the message, He said, ‘This sickness is not to end in death; but [on the contrary] it is to honor God and to promote His glory, that the Son of God may be glorified through (by) it.'”  Jesus knew what was going to happen to Lazarus and He let it.  On purpose.  Did. Not. Stop. It.  Why?  Because breathing life into a dead thing and causing it to live again is something only God can do.  And when God does God things, it shines a brilliant light on His awesomeness.  It brings glory to His name…the point of it all.

God is more than able to keep the living alive.  However, I believe it is His pleasure to resurrect dead things.  The glory of God is most pronounced in the surrendered and sacrificed life.  To lay down our lives is, essentially, His invitation to come be Himself and to make Himself great therein.  Death…the natural progression of His supernatural.  To us, the end.  To Him, the necessary means to a life with no end.  The only way.

Perspective is everything.  Because in death, life.