From Stones to Curtains

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

How these words haunt the very chambers of our believing hearts. Though a few thousand years have passed, the hearts of believers grapple to process when the miracle doesn’t come…when time seems to be up…when the dream or loved one has passed…when we realize God chose something different. I believe the greater the faith the harder the fall sometimes. Martha said in her great faith, ‘But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask’ (John 11:22). We secretly whisper the same in our hearts. We are confident in His ability to intervene so it’s a tough pill to swallow when He doesn’t. It is tempting to doubt His love and heart when we have complete confidence in His ability. 

Jesus understands our pain when our prayer goes unanswered. His prayer pleading for God to intervene wasn't God's plan for Jesus. Heaven was silent until the sky went dark... the veil was ripped from top to bottom...the earth shook...the stone at the entrance rolled back like someone had pulled the curtain back for an unexpected grand performance. And Christ has been performing ever since!

Sometimes in life when a stone is placed over the opening of hope we must allow our hearts to grieve. We must believe that whatever seems dead in our lives God potentially is doing something new. In Christ, nothing is really ever dead…it’s just different. When our loved ones die on earth they become more alive than they have ever been. When a dream must be laid to rest God will resurrect a new one. When work winds down God is orchestrating something great winding up. Jesus met Martha at the opening of the tomb with the stone firmly in place. He asked her roll away the stone. I love the King James Version of her response in John 11:39. “Lord…he stinketh.”

It stinks when something has died in our lives whether it is our hope, our health, our jobs, our relationships, and the list goes on and on. But, Christ wants to meet us at our tombs and show us that we can remove the stone…that we can witness life again…with Him we can expect healing in places where we have previously grieved. Martha’s story didn’t end at the grave and neither should ours. We must believe that ‘even now God will…’ and it is a matter of time before His perfect plan is revealed. I saw a wonderful plaque on the wall at a restaurant with different definitions of ‘believe’. My favorite word on the picture was 'to conclude.' To determine that there is nothing more to say…we confess our belief…we walk it out…we trust wholly in Him.