In our scripture today, Jesus is just arriving at the house of Mary and Martha. It was four days after their brother Lazarus had died. As you can understand they were in a state of heartbreak. As we begin our reading, Jesus is just getting to their house.
John 11:21-25
Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. “Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” Jesus *said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha *said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,
May God bless the reading of his word.
There is an adage that reads, “You are you are in a squeeze.” Of course this means that we don’t really know ourselves until we are under pressure. When death visits a family, the squeeze always comes with it. In this time of stress, Mary learns that there are three kinds of faith.
#1. There is faith for yesterday.
Mary told Jesus, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ She believed that Jesus could have healed if he had only been there.
#2. There is faith for tomorrow.
When Jesus told her that her brother would rise again, she responded with the great faith she had for tomorrow. She said, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
3. Faith for today.
What she was missing was the faith for the present moment, the faith for today. She can see that things would have been good last week, or someday at the great resurrection. What he needed was a faith that knows that Jesus can handle today.
Don’t be like Mary. Don’t just believe that God will help you someday. Have a faith that says God will be here for you now.
So which of those three faiths do you need to work on, faith for yesterday, faith for tomorrow, or faith for today?
I know which faith I need to work on.
Lonnie Davis