A Prophet in Rough Clothing

Jan. 20

Read: John 11:1-44

A Prophet in Rough Clothing

“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.” (v.4)

Would you be willing to let your “illness” be “used for the glory of God”? I don’t know about you, but my knee jerk response is… “that would stink!” I have to admit that is a tough truth to embrace. My wife, Olivia, does a much better job trusting the Lord in these types of situations. I cannot tell you how many times she has said to me that (my paraphrase of her words here) every difficult situation in life is an opportunity for Christ to demonstrate his power and love as well as an opportunity for others to find joy in helping. One of her Spiritual gifts is faith, so this thinking comes much easily to her than it does to me.

Jesus leans into these very ideas with his friend Lazarus: “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.” (v.5,6) Look at Jesus’ motivation… it was “love”. Jesus “loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus”. It is hard to fathom how love could be the motivator for lingering longer and not coming to help! Nevertheless, this is a biblical truth - that sometimes Jesus lingers and allows an “illness” to stretch on longer because of his LOVE for us. Somehow, not only does this “BRING GLORY” but it also allows us to experience the love of Christ. This is a mystery to me, but we experience the love of Christ while we wait for his healing to come. Whether that healing is in this life or in the next - every illness that besets the children of God will one day be healed. Any time that we spend “ill” - while Jesus takes the proverbial two extra days - is designed to increase our experience of Christ’s love.

This has proven true in my life. The greatest moments of joy, grace, mercy, and love have always be preceded by some of my darkest night and moments of trial. There is a quote that was shared with me many years ago from Charles Spurgeon that captures this same idea:

“This depression comes over me whenever the Lord is preparing a larger blessing for my ministry; the cloud is black before it breaks, and overshadows before it yields its deluge of mercy. Depression has now become to me as a prophet in rough clothing, a John the Baptist, heralding the nearer coming of my Lord's richer benison.” - Spurgeon; “Lectures to my Students” pg. 186

These present trials are truly opportunities to experience the MIRACULOUS work of Christ. And this miraculous work in and through his people brings him great glory. In this way, we are given the privilege to suffer well for God’s glory. There are so many other things that we claim to do for “God’s glory”, but this one is so much hard to do.

The other truth is this: When we help one another it is life giving to those who are offering the help. I know that I feel great joy and satisfaction when I can help someone else. Every time we face illness, suffering, difficulties, or trials it is an opportunity for the rest of the body to experience the joy of helping one another. It sounds a little odd to say, but our suffering provides the opportunity for others to find joy in helping us… which in turn brings us joy… which in turn glorifies God! As counter intuitive as it may seem, our illness and suffering can bring God glory and it is a way that he loves us as well as the rest of the body of Christ!

So would you be willing to suffer for God’s glory? Would you be willing to receive help from the body of Christ? Would you be willing to provide the opportunity for someone else to experience the joy of serving and helping? Could you trust that Jesus’ taking a “couple extra days” might actually be an avenue for him to show you LOVE? There is more to come from this story. Love you guys! - JDP