In Times of Pain-DD 9/22/2010

"Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."
When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled,
and said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see."
Jesus wept.
So the Jews were saying, "See how He loved him!"
But some of them said, "Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?"
So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.
Jesus said, "Remove the stone." Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days."
Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?"
So they removed the stone Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.
"I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me." John 11:32-42

In a time when we are at our lowest and most hurt, it is comforting to know that our Savior has been there. He has experienced all that we have experienced and was yet without sin. He maintained his faith and confidence in the Father as also seen in the Garden of Gethsemane. Most importantly, he cares for us when we experience our own deep hurts and disappointments.

It is best when we let the Spirit speak through the word, for therein lies peace, comfort, truth, love and healing. Let us rely even more heavily on the scripture today by simply amplifying points that are represented in this passage.

• Jesus is aware of our suffering and comes to our aid
• He is personally affected on both spiritual and emotional levels
• He weeps for our pain and his own that is rooted in his love for us
• There were others present who cared enough to lend their support
• Jesus encourages us to remain faithful
• He reminds us of his teaching
• He maintains his connection to Father
• He (subsequently) heals and restores

Beloved, we experience and endure many things in our lives. Some of these things are due to our own actions and some over which we have no control. The key is to maintain our faith regardless of what brought us to these points in our lives and rest in the knowledge that we serve a God that knows, cares and heals.

In Revival

Lee