When God Doesn't Do What You Expect
John 11:1–6 (NLT)
1 A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. 2 This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord's feet and wiped them with her hair. Her brother, Lazarus, was sick. 3 So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.” 4 But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus's sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.” 5 So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, 6 he stayed where he was for the next two days.
John 11:17–21 (NLT)
17 When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days. 18 Bethany was only a few miles down the road from Jerusalem, 19 and many of the people had come to console Martha and Mary in their loss. 20 When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
HOW SHOULD PEOPLE OF FAITH RESPOND TO DISAPPOINTMENT?
1. BRING HIM WHAT YOU FEEL.
John 11:20 (NLT)
When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house.
John 11:28–29 (NLT)
28 Then {Martha} returned to Mary. She called Mary aside from the mourners and told her, “The Teacher is here and wants to see you.” 29 So Mary immediately went to him.
John 11:32 (NLT)
When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
John 11:33 (NIV)
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.
To deny your feelings is to deny one of the God-given attributes that make you human!
HOW DOES JESUS FEEL ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS?
- JESUS SEES THEM
Psalm 34:18 (NIV)
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
1 SAMUEL 1:10 (NIV)
10 In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. :
Psalm 56:8 (NLT)
You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle.
HOW DOES JESUS FEEL ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS?
- JESUS SEES THEM
- JESUS CARES ABOUT THEM
Hebrews 4:15 (NIV)
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses…”
It is the EMPATHETIC COMPASSION of Jesus that moves Him toward our pain, while we try our hardest to hide it.
Having faith does not mean you stop having feelings.
The same God who meets us on the mountaintop of FAITH is the same God who comforts us in the valley of FRUSTRATION. - Candace Brewington
HOW SHOULD PEOPLE OF FAITH RESPOND TO DISAPPOINTMENT?
1. BRING HIM WHAT YOU FEEL.
2. BELIEVE BEYOND WHAT YOU SEE.
LUKE 10:40 (NIV)
But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, 'Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me.
Luke 10:41 (NLT)
But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details!”
John 11:21-22 (NIV)
“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that EVEN NOW God will give you whatever you ask.”
God sees what I Cannot See, He knows what I cannot know, & works from a perspective I do not have.
Don’t draw a PERMANENT CONCLUSION about God from a PARTIAL UNDERSTANDING of God.
Exodus 15:26 (NIV)
I am the LORD, who heals you.”
HOW SHOULD PEOPLE OF FAITH RESPOND TO DISAPPOINTMENT?
- BRING HIM WHAT YOU FEEL.
- JESUS CARES ABOUT THEM
- TRUST HIM WITH WHAT YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND
John 11:23-25 (NIV)
23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 24 Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;
HEBREWS 10:14 (NIV)
For by one sacrifice he has MADE PERFECT FOREVER those who are BEING MADE HOLY.
We accuse God of failing us because He secured our “forever” instead of temporarily extending our “right now”.
2 Corinthians 5:8 (KJV)
to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord
Phillipians 1:21 (NIV)
to live is Christ, but to die is gain…
Psalm 84:10 (NIV)
better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere
Hebrews 9:27 (HCS)
it is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment—
John 11:23–26 (NIV)
“Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha answered, ‘I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I AM the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;
TRUST is having confidence in God’s heart, even if we don’t understand His hand.
Deuteronomy 29:29a (NIV)
The secret things belong to the LORD our God
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