21 Days of DiscipleshipSample

Meet Me in the Mess

In John 11, Jesus positions Himself perfectly to show us both His personal love and His death-defying power. We come to understand that His timing is always intentional. His methods bring God maximum glory, yet He never misses a moment to meet us in our mess.

Here’s the paradox. Jesus loved the siblings Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. But when He heard Lazarus was sick, Jesus stayed where He was for two more days! Why? You’d think His love would motivate Jesus to drop everything and go heal His friend. Everyone knew He could, including the sisters. They share their confusion and grief with Jesus when He finally arrives to find His friend dead. 

However, we quickly realize that Jesus knew in advance how this whole thing would end. With this knowledge, Jesus chose to act in such a way that would bring God the most glory through Mary, Martha, and Lazarus’ story. Because He loved them, He chose the path that would reveal the purpose in pain. The power in pain. And the potential in pain. These revelations opened the siblings’ eyes to the glory of God that could be brought out of even the most painful moments of their lives. That’s why Jesus’ timing was, in fact, loving. 

But don’t miss that even though Jesus knew how it would end, He doesn’t brush off the pain of His friends. He listens to their grief and confusion and it moves His heart deeply. He takes the time to share truth and tears with Martha and Mary. That’s right; Jesus wept. This is the very opposite of avoiding the mess; this is embracing it. With His tears, Jesus acknowledges that death is wrong—it was never meant to be this way. And it hurts His heart to see people He loves experience even a taste of death. 

So what does Jesus show us about discipleship? That if He wept with these friends in their mess, He’s certainly willing to meet us in ours. He’s present in times of trouble. He also invites us to trust Him to reveal purpose, power, and potential in pain. When we trust Him with our pain, our eyes and the eyes of others around us are opened to the glory of God. Think about it. It wasn’t just the sisters who saw their brother raised to life. It was everyone who was at the house for the funeral. Finally, if Jesus is willing to step with us into pain and messes, then we are called to be willing to do the same with others. Disciples of Jesus are called to meet the messiness of life with the love of Christ.

Challenge: What pain can you allow Jesus into to produce purpose, power, and potential? What mess is He calling you to step into? Pray over that pain and plunge into that mess today. Write down where you see Jesus in both of those situations.