Why? | Daily Lent Devotion

Why?

Daily Devotion for Lent | Friday, March 15

Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
John 11:21

I wonder what Lazarus thought of it. He was very ill—his sisters were worried, and they sent word to Jesus so He could come quickly and heal him. Then they waited. And waited.

I can just see Martha leaning out the door of her house, looking down the road. Why didn’t Jesus come?

John tells us, “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when He heard that Lazarus was ill, He stayed two days longer in the place where He was” (John 11:5-6). A strange way to show love! You love someone, so you avoid helping them right away? What kind of a God is that?

And yet it’s true, isn’t it? We have a God like that. We see people who have been in the Christian faith for years—people whose characters have been shaped by Jesus, who are clearly walking closely with Him—and they are the ones whose prayers seem to go unanswered. They suffer. They grieve. They go through loss. Why?

We don’t have the answers we want. But in the case of Lazarus, at least, we have a clue: Jesus’ words,“This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it” (John 11:4).

Jesus must have really trusted Lazarus and his family. What a test of faith they went through! Perhaps this is why John makes a point of saying that Jesus loved them. You don’t place that kind of burden on anybody but those you know and love with all your heart. Those you are close to—they are the ones you ask the most of. You trust them. You have the hope that they will trust you.

We know the end of this story—that Jesus raised Lazarus, and many came to faith because of him. We don’t often see the result of the suffering in our own lives. But like Lazarus, we trust that Jesus cares, and is going to use it for good. Somehow. Some time. Some way. Because He loves us.

THE PRAYER

Lord, we often don’t understand what You are doing or why. Help us to trust in You and to endure the hard times. Amen.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

When did you do something your loved ones couldn’t understand?
When have your prayers seemed to go unanswered?
When you suffer, how do you keep trusting in Jesus?

Brought to you in partnership with Lutheran Hour Ministries – lhm.org/lent

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About These Devos

PEOPLE OF THE PASSION Lenten Devotions 2019

Centuries before Christ, God was preparing the way for His Son’s arrival. From mankind’s original sin through the children of Israel’s on-again, off-again obedience, God was faithful, honoring His promise to Eve (Genesis 3:15), which first pointed to Jesus. In People of the Passion, we see God working through the lives of ordinary people to achieve His ultimate aim: our salvation. There are prophets, priests, and kings, servants, soldiers, and civilians—each with a role in the high drama of Christ’s passion. Readers may see themselves in some of these people—ordinary individuals who, like us, need a Savior.

Lutheran Hour Ministries (LHM) is a Christian outreach ministry supporting churches worldwide in its mission of Bringing Christ to the Nations—and the Nations to the Church.