Last Friday we gave thanks. We thanked God for our loved ones. Spouses and children are top on the thanksgiving list. Next came our career. Climbing the career ladder can be physically and mentally draining but opportunities nevertheless abound and we thanked God for giving us the strength and the wisdom to convert them. Good health came in on a close third on the list. Good health is not restricted to our physiological well-being. Good health meant more than just the absence of illness. We cannot be healthy when we are chronically stressed, emotionally unstable or mentally depressed. And the irony is that a man with a terminal illness can be healthier on the whole than a sick-free man.
Many people I know who are apparently sick-free are more emotionally distraught and mentally disturbed than a cancer patient. I had a client who was so depressed with the divorce proceeding she was going through that during some morning, she told me that she could not get out of bed. She felt more helpless than an invalid. Her whole world collapsed and she wanted to end her life. So, we thank God for our good health in the broader sense, which essentially encompasses spiritual strength, mental calmness, emotional resiliency and physical well being.
Many of us gave thanks to God for all the good things that had happened to us. This is natural. In the same way that we thank a giver for a gift, we thank God for life, family and good health. But there is another aspect of thanksgiving that is often avoided or ignored. And it is quite understandable. Have you ever thanked God for the bad things that had happened to you? Have you thanked God for illness? Have you thanked God for bankruptcy? Have you thanked God for a death in the family? The almost “perverse” list could go on and on because bad things happen to us as frequently as good things, whether we like it or not. And sometimes, or most times, bad things are not always bad and good things are not always good.
What I mean is that bad things may be a blessing in disguise and good things a disaster in the making. Like a flipped coin, bad things may turn out good and we become stronger for it and good things may turn out bad and we become weaker by it. In short, bad things may bring out the good in us and good things may bring out the worst in us. In all this, my point is more aptly expressed in this scripture, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Maybe, the terminology doesn’t sound right. We should not give thanks to God for the bad things that happen to us. By doing so, we give the impression that God is the author of our misfortune. This doesn’t square with the scriptures which say that God is all loving and compassionate. This doesn’t sound like our God who sacrificed His only son for us. So, should we even give thanks to God for everything that happens to us, in particular, the bad?
Last Friday, I talked about one of the cardinal rules of life that we can bet our last dollar on. And it is this: bad times never fail to strike with an expiry date. By extension, overcoming or enduring bad times with faith, trust and hope never fail to make us wiser, stronger and more resilient the next time round. This is one of the most important rules of life. If we allow bad times to run its course, without being adversely affected by it, it will usually end up becoming unexpectedly good. But the same rule does not apply to good times. The rule does not work in reverse with the same definite end result as the rule on bad times. Good times may not always remain good in the end. Ask anyone who had won the lottery on pure luck and you would notice that their lives were not necessarily better for it.
The paradox also applies to married couple. I have seen and heard of testimonies of couples growing closer during bad times and drifting apart during good times. Seen in this obtuse light, material success may very well be your greatest foe rather than your trusted ally. Material successes are generally deemed as blessings. Everybody congratulates you on getting rich, being famous or attaining high class status. Some of us, of course, would be inspired by you. So, it is generally a good thing. But material successes change people. If we are not careful, our successes can adversely affect all our basic relationships with God, with our loved ones, and with our close friends. Divorce is only a step away when you become rich and famous. Financial ruin is closer than you think when you attain corporate recognition and start to believe in your own invincibility by cutting corners and fudging the account books. So, although good and bad times do not last, it is often the bad times that bring lasting positive changes to a person rather than good times.
The hardest part of going through bad times is the uncertainty of its expiry. We will never know when financial hardship will end its course in our life. We have no idea when our estranged loved ones will return to us. We can’t be sure how or when we will recover from the death of a loved one. Bad times therefore demand endurance and hope. It also demands our trust in a God of purpose and love. This is where the raising of Lazarus becomes relevant to our spiritual faith.
We all know that Jesus raised Lazarus in the end (John 11:43.44). But it was not done until he was dead for four days. Jesus did not just heal Lazarus of his illness; he essentially delivered him from “the clutches of death” and this was done before God resurrected Jesus at Calvary. This was deemed to be a miracle before its time. However, my point in this account is not in the resurrection of Lazarus but in the faith of Lazarus’ two sisters, Mary and Martha, when death occurred in their family.
When Lazarus was alive, Mary and Martha sent words to Jesus informing him that their brother was seriously ill. Jesus then replied them by making a statement which would turn out to be contrary to reality. He said that the sickness would not end up in death but for the glory of God. I am sure that Mary and Martha were greatly comforted by the assurance of Jesus. But we all know the story. Lazarus died thereafter and Mary and Martha must have felt really confounded by Jesus’ pronouncement of faith. Still Jesus waited for one or two days before going to Lazarus’ wake.
When he arrived, Mary did not go out to meet him but Martha did. And herein lies my point on bad times. When bad times strike, most Christians handle it either with the faith of Martha or Mary. Both dealt with grieve differently and most humanly. Of course, we can safely assume that both were saddened by their beloved brother’s death. But Martha met Jesus and declared her undying faith to him. She said, “Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” Then Jesus assured her that her brother will rise again and Martha accepted his words without full understanding of them.
As for Mary, it took her a little while to meet up with Jesus. When she came to Jesus, she fell on his feet and cried out, “Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” This was to be the second time she fell on Jesus’ feet and I am sure she could still smell the sweet oil fragrance rising from his feet. Mary then cried her heart out to Jesus. When Jesus saw this, the Bible says that he “groan in the spirit and was troubled.” And this is where we find the shortest verse in the Bible and the most touchingly profound…John 11:35, “Jesus wept.”
Imagine, Jesus, who knew how all bad things have a good ending, and who knew that a miracle is waiting at the end of the bend, still wept with Mary. Beloved, whatever you are going through, you are not alone. God sees it, and He knows that it will not last, and that a miracle is waiting for you at the end, but still He weeps with you. God groans in the spirit with you. He endures the hard times with you. But ultimately, with faith and hope, he will carry you through. We just have to take His hand and walk the journey together. There is a lesson to be learned in our trials. A meaning to be discovered by us. God is our life coach to bring out these lessons to us so that we grow stronger. At this juncture, quoting Psalms 27:14 seems irresistible, “Wait upon the Lord; be of good courage, and He will strengthen your heart. Wait upon the Lord.”
When hard times strike, you can exhibit Mary’s or Martha’s kind of faith. While Martha shown optimistic faith, Mary’s was more humanistic and more subdued. Either ways, it is all about how we approach God with our pain. I believe that both of them gave their problems to God wholeheartedly. Although one was more reluctant than the other, Mary and Martha dealt with their grief in the best way they knew how, and that is, to give it to Jesus and live out their faith with hope and trust. Ultimately, they traded their grief for peace of mind and they were rewarded with a miracle in the end. The Bible did not say how overjoyed Mary and Martha were when they saw their beloved brother leaving his tomb. But I am sure it was a day they celebrated in their spirit till their death. That day’s testimony must have been their torch-fire of faith to help them overcome all the trials they would face in the future.
Well, beloved, not all of our pain would end up in the same way as Mary’s and Martha’s. Some of us are praying for our pain to go away and are still praying for it as I pen these words. Some of us have in fact lost faith in God and are slipping away from His hand – derailing from the journey God had designated for us. But I challenge you to hold that thought and go down on your knees and weep before God. In 2 Kings 20:5, King Hezekiah prayed and cried to God and God added fifteen years to his life and delivered him from his enemies. God can still work miracles. God can still rearrange the elements of the universe, suspend the laws of nature and retire the hands of fate just for you.
Alternatively, God’s miracles in your life may be to strengthen your heart. It may be a miracle of character instead a miracle of circumstances. God may have a plan for you to go through your pain and to come out as a veritable conqueror, whose victory would impact lives in years to come. Whatever the miracle, beloved, let God and God alone answer your prayer. For in the end, His answer is always sealed with peace. Keep praying until you find an inner resolution, a peace of mind that surpasses all understanding. In other words, pray until you receive in your spirit the peace of God.
Have a blessed Christmas and may all the bad things in your life bring out the best in you! Let God arise and all your enemies be scattered!
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