Friday, August 24, 2001
Our new grandson looks so tiny and fragile - and my grandfather's heart just hates to hear him cry, especially when he's really hurting, and the crying is long and intense. Like the other day when his parents took him to the doctor for some preventive inoculations. Now they've decided that's a step they wanted to take to protect their son from things like polio and measles and other harmful diseases. Of course, those loving reasons are a little hard to explain to a three-month-old. "You see little guy, there are all these nasty germs, and this shot will help immunize you." Forget it! It just hurts, and he doesn't understand why.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Positive Pain."
Now if the relatively short-lived pain of an inoculation keeps our little guy from major illness later on, he'll be really grateful that his parents loved him enough to let him have that little pain someday. Of course, it isn't just babies who experience pain without an explanation. Sometimes it's us big people, too. In fact, you may be going through a hurtful time right now - and, just like my grandson, if your Heavenly Father tried to explain it to you, there's no way you could understand the good He's trying to accomplish.
But often God sends or allows something painful to come into our lives in order to accomplish a much greater good. It certainly happened that way for Mary and Martha in our word for today from the Word of God in John 11, beginning in verse 5. These two sisters sent urgent word to Jesus that their brother Lazarus is very sick. They are desperate for Him to come and help. The account says, "Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was two more days." Now that was just enough time for Lazarus to die. And I'm not sure Mary and Martha felt very loved by Jesus at that point.
Well, eventually, Jesus goes to them, and Martha greets Him with these words: "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." Mary was too grief stricken to come to Jesus until she got this message, "The Teacher is here and is asking for you." And John 11 says, "When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to Him...When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled." Well, Jesus goes to Lazarus' tomb, has the stone rolled away from the entrance, and "called in a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come out!' and the dead man came out..."
Now Jesus had a much greater miracle in mind than just healing a sick man - He was going to resurrect a dead man! But Mary and Martha didn't know that. They had to go through a season of great pain to get to the greater good. Sort of like a certain grandbaby I know. Don't ever forget that your God is always the God of the greater good! And that's what He's working on in your situation right now. The greater good may be drawing someone you care about to Christ through your suffering, equipping you for a whole new ministry to hurting people, removing some junk from your life that's hindering you from having His best, or maybe paving the way for a miracle that will blow you away and everyone around you.
In the meantime, He cares deeply about the pain you're going through on your way to the greater good. Notice how His heart was moved by the grief of those who had lost Lazarus - even though He knew the miracle was on the way. His heart is moved by your hurting every bit as much as mine is by the crying of a little hurting grandson. But while your Heavenly Father is holding you to comfort you, I believe I know what He might be thinking - "My child, someday you'll understand - and when you see what the pain was for, you'll know it all happened because I love you."