Letters to Little - The Way It Ends

John 11:4 – But when Jesus heard it he said, ‘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.’”

Happy three weeks my little munchkin! You are getting sooo big! You gained almost a pound in your first two weeks and continue to fill out your skin. I am loving your baby rolls but missing how tiny you were already. Last night you slept for 4-4 ½ hours at a time – which means I got to sleep, too! You have the best facial expressions and you love to make noises. You also love your pacifier and the porch swing – still not a fan of the car seat though!

I would be lying if I told you that these past three weeks have been easy and perfectly wonderful. They have been wonderful, but also painful, challenging, and disheartening for all of us at times. You won’t remember, but you’ve been frustrated, too.

At one point, when I was feeling so very discouraged, Jesus reminded me of his friend Lazarus. In John 11, Lazarus’ sisters (Mary and Martha) send word to Jesus that his good buddy (whom Jesus loved) is very sick and needs Jesus. What does Jesus do? You would think that He would rush to His friend’s side and heal him right away – that would be the most loving thing to do, right? But Jesus doesn’t do that. Jesus says, “This doesn’t end in death; God’s going to get the glory” and He stays put. He doesn’t go. And Lazarus dies…and then Jesus decides to go to him….

….What the heck Jesus?

But that’s not the end of the story. Jesus ends up raising Lazarus from the dead!

Time out.

Wouldn’t it have been easier for everyone if Jesus had just gone first thing and healed Lazarus? Or better yet, if He had never allowed Lazarus to get sick to begin with?

You see, God’s ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. He is so much smarter and greater than we are. The reality is that Jesus could have healed Lazarus or prevented his illness entirely, but because He didn’t a few things happened:

1.       Lazarus encountered Jesus in a way that he never would have otherwise. He was given a powerful testimony.

2.       Jesus demonstrated His authority over death – not just to Lazarus and His disciples, but to the Jews who were present and to us as well. They encountered Jesus in a way they never would have otherwise and left with a powerful testimony. Much like them, we get to encounter Jesus in that same way when we read this story.

3.       God got the glory – and where God is glorified, therein lies our good. God’s glory=our good…even (especially) when it doesn’t look like what we would have thought.

So could Jesus miraculously fix all of our breastfeeding struggles – heal your tongue and lip ties, take away my pain, regulate my milk supply to meet your needs? Could He balance out your clotting factors so you don’t bleed so easily? Heal that pesky, persistent diaper rash? Yes, yes He could. He could in an instant. Has He? No. But has He been gracious, and faithful, and present, and healing? Yes, yes He has. In fact, you would be expected to be “failure to thrive” and yet you are gaining weight because of an oversupply of milk! God is so faithful to us and what seems hopeless – what appears will end in death – Jesus says, “I got this. God will get the glory.”

Because of the Gospel we can confidently claim, “This will not end in death. God will be glorified.” Even physical death is not our end. We have the hope of life forever with Jesus – whole, complete, perfectly restored life.

Satan would love for us to wallow in despair – to allow confusion, grief, frustration and anger to prevent us from seeking God and pressing into Him during difficult seasons. He loves to whisper lies to us, like “God doesn’t care.” “This is hopeless.” “Change or healing isn’t possible.” “Just give up.” Etc.

BUT

Jesus had declared, “This does not end in death.” He has won the victory by rising from the dead. He has the authority, the power, the final say over death and everything else. Where Satan can only steal, kill, destroy, and lie, Jesus always gives and brings full and abundant life (John 10:10).

There will be times in your life when Jesus will “wait” or “stay” like He did in Lazarus’ case. Other times when He will ask you to surrender to Him in trust, even when it seems like that is the death of a dream or promise – He did this with Abraham when He asked Abraham to sacrifice his promised son Isaac – but I promise He knows best and He is faithful to His promises. If He asks you to lay something down on the altar (which He will at some point), know that there is life abundant on the other side of surrender.

My prayer for you – as you squirm on my chest right now – is that you always trust Jesus and walk in obedience to Him, especially in tough seasons. That you would declare, as Jesus did, “This – whatever it might be- does not end in death. Jesus, get the glory.”

I love you my bug – always.

-          Mom