This morning we will continue with my recap of messages that impacted me during the recent Mighty Men of Valor Conference. In yesterday’s message I dealt with the challenges we must all face if we are going to become the people God has called us to be. I provided my personal testimony of how God used my son Ethan’s birth as a forcing-function to plant Isabella and I in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for 56 days. While we were consumed with what we were facing, God was actually using us to minister to the children, parents and staff members in the NICU. While giving my testimony I mentioned something I heard Pastor Ron Carpenter say, and that is that sometimes “What’s going on is NOT what’s going on.” Before I go on to recap any more messages, I am led to use Pastor Ron’s thought with a very familiar passage of scripture. This morning we will take a peek into John 11 and the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. Jesus was sent into the earth to glorify the Father.
a) In the true “Lord’s prayer” (John 17), Jesus basically prayed, “Glorify me, that I may glorify thee”. Everything Jesus did was to bring glory to the Father.
b) Jesus brought glory to the Father by causing the blind to see, lame to walk, dumb to speak, deaf to hear and dead to rise. While this sounds good, every healing also required the involvement of a human who needed it. While God was getting the glory out of the manifestation, in the middle of the miracle was a human to who had to endure all the pain associated with the situation.
2. The manifestation of God’s power also involved people in dire situations who need it.
a) An often overlooked fact is that for God to manifest healing in the earth, it requires a sick human. For God to manifest supernatural provision, it requires a need. For God to manifest supernatural peace, it requires chaos and stress. While God does not create bad situations, He does permit them and He can use them as the platform from which He manifests His glory.
b) Of all the miracles Jesus performed, raising a human from the dead was without question the most powerful. Every time Jesus raised someone from the dead the Father was glorified profusely. The problem is that this also required someone to die.
c) Jesus raised a young man from the dead during his funeral procession. But this meant the widow at Nain had to endure the pain associated with her son dying first. Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead, but this meant Jairus and his family had to experience the initial shock and pain of her death. While God was glorified in both cases, they were also very painful for the families involved.
3. When God wanted to glorify Jesus on another level, it required a family to endure pain on another level.
a) By the time we get to John 11 Jesus has already healed countless sick and raised two people from the dead. The Father was ready to manifest His power on another level and He was ready to glorify Jesus on another level. But this meant He had to find a family He could trust to endure a situation that required His power on another level. When the Father was considering which family to use, He chose to use a family close to Jesus. It was a family who loved Jesus and whom Jesus loved. For the manifestation of this ‘next level power’ God had to permit ‘next level calamity’ to visit the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus.
b) When Jesus learned of Lazarus’ sickness and He could have spoken a word of healing from where He was. One word from Jesus and Lazarus would be healed. But Jesus did not speak that word. Jesus did not travel to the home. Jesus seemingly did NOTHING except WAIT. Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, this sickness is for the glory of God. This has happened to bring glory to the Son of God.”
c) In order for Jesus to be glorified on ANOTHER LEVEL God had to permit calamity on ANOTHER LEVEL.
d) In the end, Lazarus died and Jesus did not show up until he had been dead FOUR DAYS. Mary and Martha did not know it, but what was going on is NOT was was going on. God was working a far greater and eternal weight of glory.
4. What God permits, He has purpose wrapped up in.
a) God can prevent and permit things from happening in your life. He has already prevented more things than you know; things you will only find out about when you get to heaven. But in the things He permits, there is often divine purpose.
b) When God was ready to manifest His glory in the life of Jesus in a way that far exceeded anything He had done, He had to find a family He could trust with the pain associated with the situation. That family was Mary, Martha and Lazarus.
c) We like to focus on the glory manifested through Lazarus being raised from the dead after four days, but we forget a man had to die, sisters had to cry, and calamity had to visit the home of a family who loved Jesus.
d) God trusted Mary, Martha and Lazarus with pain associated with the situation, so that His Son could be glorified. God trusted me and my wife with the pain associated with Ethan being born at 3lbs. and spending 56 days in the NICU, so that He could be glorified. Can God trust you?
e) Sometimes what you are facing is more about God than it is about you. The situation is for the glory of God!
*** For God to manifest the next level of glory in your life, it may require you to face the next level of challenge. But don’t worry, if God permits you to face the next level of challenge, it is only because He trusts you with the next level of pain. So while you are going through it, remember, “What’s going on is NOT what’s going on!”
Closing Confession: Father, I thank You for teaching me about Your grace and my requirement to live by faith. I know I am on this planet to bring You glory. I pray like Jesus prayed and I say, “Glorify me that I may glorify thee!” However, I know that for levels and levels of glory to be manifested in my life, I may have to face levels and levels of challenges. And I also know that You will never allow me to face something You don’t trust me with. So Father, I am SO committed to glorifying You in the earth, that I declare I am ready for the next level. Come what may, I keep my eyes fixed and focused on You. I behold Your glory and as I do, I am incrementally changed into that very same image, from glory to glory. Whatever sufferings I face are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed through them. When facing difficult situations, I remind myself that oftentimes “What’s going on is NOT what’s going on”, so I keep my eyes, my heart, and my mind stayed on You. I am on this planet to bring glory to You name and I declare that I do. I declare this by faith! In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
