The 11th chapter from the book of John tells of a situation where we see the human emotions of Jesus. A man by the name of Lazarus became ill. He was the brother of Martha and Mary. This is the same Martha who washed the feet of Jesus with her hair. The bible says that Jesus loved Lazarus and his sisters. 

Not long after being ill, Jesus receives word from Mary that Lazarus has died. The bible says that Jesus wept, or cried. No matter who you are, death is not easy. Think of the death that affected you- that person that is no longer here for you to talk to. It hurts! That is why I cannot fathom why it is such a light thing and rolls off of our tongues so casually, the death of Jesus for US! It should humble us that Jesus was willing to DIE for us, because we can relate to the loss of someone near and dear to our hearts. Okay, I digressed a bit- back to my point. Mary goes on to tell Jesus if He had been with them, her brother Lazarus would not have died.

How many times have we blamed the Lord for bad situations in our lives? 

How often have we gotten an “attitude” with God because we did not get what we wanted Him to and how we wanted Him to do something?

The Lord is not to blame for tragedy and hardships in our lives. It seems as if this is hard for us to believe, but it is the nature of people. It is easy to blame someone or talk about someone who is not physically there to defend themselves. We see it happen daily. A story is told about an event and if the key people in the event are not there, you can be certain that one of those people will be blamed. The difference here though is the Holy Spirit is everywhere and He hears and sees everything. Jesus told us who is behind all of the turmoil:

“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” John‬ ‭10:10‬ ‭NLT

Jesus told us that everything good comes from God and He does not change. 

 We are eager and quick to question the Lord, His decisions and His whereabouts in our lives but…what if the Lord has some questions for you? Just what if He needed to ask you some questions such as:

1. Where were you, when He needed someone to minister to the spiritual needs of a lost or hurting soul, but you talked about them?
2. Where were you when God had a direct word for your situation, through His minister and you decided not to attend service?
3. Where were you when God gave you a thought to read or study in His word, to reaffirm and establish your relationship with Him, or something to use to encourage that person you would run into on that very same day (to prepare you for the conversation) but instead you chose to do it later, only to forget the thought, go to bed, or watch your favorite show?
4. Where were you when God needed you to speak His word into someone’s life but you chose to speak and transfer gossip about the man or woman of God?
5. Where were you when God needed you to make the purpose He has given you a priority in your life, but instead you chose to place your personal agenda before His?

 Where were you, when God needed YOU?

‬‬Do we seek God out of a pure heart, just to know Him and hear Him? God has been there! No, He has been here. He is here now, seeking for you! 

“For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” Luke‬ ‭19:10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

He was there when the issue happened in your life. He has been there all the time. The question is where were you when He needed you? Had you been there, maybe the situation would have had different results.

In case you’re wondering, the story of Lazarus ends such that Jesus said that the sickness of Lazarus would reveal the glory of God. And so, Jesus raises Him from the dead. I don’t know about you, but I want Jesus to love me so, that He feels my tears and it moves Him to bring me from a situation that the enemy believed would place me on death row. But because of my compassion and love for Him, Jesus resurrects me from the situation and brings life from potential death.