“Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” John 11:21
“Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldst see the glory of God?” John 11:40
How many ifs would you put in this verse, that would apply to your life? “If I had a bigger house ... ,” “If my husband made more money ... ,” “If I had different relatives ... ,” “If the place where I go to worship were ... .” The Lord Jesus responds, “If thou wouldst believe, thou shouldst see the glory of God” (John 11:40). God’s loving hand allows every circumstance in our lives. He wants to take our ifs and bring glory to Himself in them— He wants to work good in our lives, but we must believe. When the Lord said, “Take ye away the stone,” Martha responded, “Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days (John 11:39).” She had an excuse as to why it didn’t make sense to obey the Lord: “Why would one take away a stone from a grave if it were only going to stink?”
How many excuses do we make in refusing to obey the Lord? “If I were to do that it wouldn’t work out for this reason.” “I’ve tried that, but ... .” Peter likely thought, “We’ve fished all night and caught nothing, so why should I obey the Lord and try again?” (Luke 5:5). What’s your excuse for refusing to obey the prompting of the Spirit in your heart? Or what’s your excuse for not submitting to your circumstances?
Jesus said to Martha, “Said I not unto thee, that if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldst see the glory of God?” (vs. 40). We must believe and obey even when it doesn’t make sense to us. If God says to do it, then we must leave the results with Him. “Then they took away the stone” (vs. 41). They obeyed. The rest was up to the Lord.
Are we obeying? We need to believe that “as for God His way is perfect” (Psa. 18:30), and then we will see the glory of God. Just believe. Let Him do the rest, in His time. “And Jesus cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth” (vss. 43-44). In a miraculous way, God raised Lazarus from the dead.