Prophet

I need to be reading The Suns of Independence right now, but I'm going to take a break to talk about something that's really stuck with me this week.

The Lazarus story in John 11.  The entire time, Jesus knew how it was going to end up.  But no one else knew.  No one else could have known.  By the time Jesus gets there, Lazarus had been dead for four days.  Four entire days.  People couldn't wrap their heads around it.  "Jesus, why did you wait so late to get here? If you would have just been here, he wouldn't even have died!"  Jesus.  Dude.  What are you doing?  You're dragging your feet.  You let Lazarus die.

But he knew the whole time what he was doing, he knew the whole time what he was going to do, and he knew the whole time how it was going to end up.  He sees what we can't see.  He knows what we have no ability to know.  He's our Savior, but he's also our Prophet.

In verse 22, Martha's like, "I know you have the power to do whatever you want," but she still didn't believe He would do it.  Even after Jesus point blank tells her, "Your brother will rise again," in verse 23, in the next verse, she's like, "Suuuure he will . . . in the resurrection in the last day."

Part of me is like, Martha, you are off the chain!  You have Jesus standing right in front of your face telling you He's about to bring your brother back to life, and even you yourself admitted that He has the power to do it, but you still don't believe He will!  Sit back, girl.

But then, the other part of me realizes that I am like Martha every single day.  Yeah, God, I know you have the power to do blah, blah, blah.  I get it.  You're almighty.  I know.  But my reality is a dead Lazarus.  A Lazarus that's been dead for four whole days and seriously reeks.  And not only that, a Lazarus that didn't even have to die, because it could have been prevented.  That's all I can see.  I'm just like Martha.  So, maybe I need to sit back.

This whole time, God has been listening to my cries and accusations.  Shoot, He's even broken down and cried with me (see verse 35).  But this whole time, God has been like, "You can't see what I see.  You don't know what I know.  In just an instant, a dead, stinking Lazarus can become living and breathing and walking and alive. Just sit tight."

The whole time, Martha was like, "I know you can resurrect him," and Jesus was like, "Um, hold up.  You thinking about this all wrong, honey.  I am the resurrection" (see verse 25).

I want to stop repeating this mantra to myself about what I know God can do, and rather start focusing on who God is.  And in addition to many other things, He is a Prophet.  He can see waaaayyy ahead of the game.  He already knows its outcome.  He knows what He's doing and what He's about to do.  And it is good.