In The House Of Misery God HelpsSample

Blockages To Experience God’s Miracles 

The tomb of Lazarus was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. They had buried Lazarus in a cave and sealed it with a great rock to keep out animals, predators, and the horrific stench of death. Jesus told the people, “Take away the stone”

Jesus could have moved the stone Himself if He had wanted to, but there is a lesson to be learned in His request of them.

Martha objected because her brother had been dead for four days and there would now be a bad odor. For her, the situation was hopeless. 

Maybe they were glad that Jesus was there to comfort them, but they really had no idea that Jesus could turn this hopeless situation around. Jesus’ request that they take away the stone required faith on their behalf. This allowed them a part in their own breakthrough.

Before the crowd could see a dead man come back to life, be resurrected and walk out, they had to first take away the stone that would block that miracle from being seen. 

It could be the stone of unbelief, or bitterness or resentment or unconfessed sin, or an unforgiving spirit or indifference or anything that prevents God from being first place in your life. Roll away your stone.

W.A. Criswell has said it so clearly “Do you want to see the miraculous intervention of God from heaven in your life? If you do, then bend your back and lift!  Not till God sees us in the commitment of our lives to His work and in dead earnestness, taking a two-fisted, two-handed seizure of all of our obstacles, will God bare His arm to do His incomparably glorious work.  "God is not deceived, much less mocked.  What we sow, we reap" [Galatians 6:7]. And if we sow cheap sentimentalism and wishful thinking and half-hearted response, there will be no miraculous intervention from heaven. The hand of God will not move. “

Quote: "God does for us what we cannot do for ourselves, and God never does what we are able to do. This is seen in both the natural and spiritual realms." - Welshimer

Application question: What is the stone in your life that God is asking you to move before He blesses you? 

Prayer: Lord, I agree with Your Word, there is nothing too hard for You. I move forward in rolling away my stone and experiencing Your life giving power in my life. Amen