"When He heard therefore that he was sick, He abode two days still in the same place where He was." (John 11:6)
In the forefront of this marvelous chapter stands the affirmation, "Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazurus," as if to teach us that at the very heart and foundation of all God's dealings with us, however dark and mysterious they may be, we must dare to believe in and assert the infinite, unmerited, and unchanging love of God. Love permits pain. The sisters never doubted that He would speed at all hazards and stay their brother from death, but, "When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was."
What a startling "therefore"! He abstained from going, not because He did not love them, but because He did love them. his love alone kept Him back from hasting at once to the dear and stricken home. Anything less than infinite love must have rushed instantly to the relief of those loved and troubled hearts, to stay their grief and to have the luxury of wiping and stanching their tears and causing sorrow and sighing to flee away. Devine love could alone hold back the impetuosity of the Savior's tender heartedness until the angel of pain had done her work.
"Who can estimate how much we owe to suffering and pain? But for them we should have little scope for many of the chief virtues of the Christian life. Where was faith, without trial to test it; or patience, without nothing to bear; or experience without tribulation to develop it? -streams in the desert
As I grow older and further away from the magic of innocence and naivety my heart longs to reconcile God' love to the incredible amount of sorrow I see each day. I struggle with finding the purpose of my prayers when they seem to go unheard and unanswered. My small brain and little faith cannot grasp God's plan or His love in it. I hadn't thought of the discipline it must take to "abode longer". We being evil give good gifts to our children so how much more the heavenly father gives good gifts. I know as a friend I want to rescue, save, heal and spare and I just can't imagine the restraint our Father must have to hold back and allow the pain to do it's work. I once heard a pastor say that the thing he was thankful for that thanksgiving was a strong heart. Tears just flooded my eyes because I knew how much he had endured and suffered and so the richness of his gratitude was priceless. I'm thankful for the strong heart that the Lord has given me, and the vastness of His love. I pray to the Lord that whatever His will be that He would grant me the mercy to love Him all the days of my life, with all of my heart. I pray this for you too friends who are struggling to understand why He 'therefore' abodes. He loves you.
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