Four days! you waited four days! Does this seem like an eternity? With God this is only a blip in time. I don’t know about you but I often struggle with patience and understanding God’s direction. God is an all knowing and all powerful God who does not operate by time. His ways are not our ways. let’s look at God’s timing and faith through Martha. Your faith should be strengthened through the account found in John 11 as we see Jesus in this account, He asked those that were at Lazarus’ tomb to take the stone away.
I have often wondered as well what it would be like to be Jesus and be all knowing and all powerful. Kind of scary if you think deeply on that! In John 11 Jesus was ministering in a town that was a day or two walk away from the town of Bethany where Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha lived. Mary and Martha were with Jesus and heard that their brother was sick and ended up dying. The terminology about death back then was a bit confusing. The word that was used was that he was sleeping. Back then it could be used for both sleep and death. Some of those that heard the news literally thought Lazarus was just sleeping. The account has two purposes for us to learn from. The first lesson is that we can have faith and trust that Jesus is who He says He is and the second is to see Martha’s faith.
It is not as common in the US but here in the Bahamas we often see either a potcake (wild dog), cat or some other animal that has been hit by a car and has been bloating through a natural process of decomposition. Sorry for the word picture but this is a natural process. Today we have wonderful ways to bury a person which are less gross and often some people will use these measures for their beloved pets as well. The graves in Biblical times were typically a cave dug into the hillside. Often it was a grave that was carved out of the rock. To secure the grave a stone was rolled in front of the grave to seal it off. The family would often take care of the body and then place it in the grave where it would go through that natural process of decomposition.
First we see exactly who Jesus is who he said He was. Knowing who Jesus is and His power helps us to see our need for that power and in faith, believe in him. Knowing and believing this will help guide us into a life that honors Him. Sometimes I can be really slow and dense but I am encouraged by the people around Jesus and that I am not alone. In this account Jesus told the disciples and those that were traveling with him that Lazarus had fallen asleep and that He was going to wake him. As I mentioned earlier terminology can be confused and as we see in this account that terminology caused a miscommunication of Lazarus’ status. Those that were with him didn’t understand so Jesus set them straight.
He said in verse 14 that “Jesus told them plainly” that “Lazarus has died.” Here is where we see Jesus’ power in who He is. In this delay Jesus will prove that He has power over death and that through that power we can have faith in who He truly is! Now Lazarus has been in the grave for four days and you can imagine the state that his body was in. There is so much more to this story but Jesus went to the 
tomb and asked those that were there to roll away the stone that was in front of the grave. Jesus acknowledged where his power came from by thanking God and through His power He called out to Lazarus and commanded him to come out. God rose Lazarus from the dead proving to those around him who He was….God!
Second, Martha’s faith is a great example of knowing who Jesus was and His power. Just like Martha we can through faith have assurance that He can do what He says He can do. Before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead He had an encounter with Martha who understood what happens naturally to bodies after they die. When Jesus arrived in Bethany Martha stated “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” What faith! Jesus acknowledged that faith, by both stating that Lazarus would rise from the dead and also in following through on what He said.
In all of life God has given us a responsibility. Our responsibility can done on our own or we can exhibit faith in the creator of the universe. The point in this, of taking away the stone is that there were people that physically had to move the stone. Jesus had asked the people there to take away the stone. Just like you and I, we need to roll away the stone and have faith in the power of the one true God. What are those things that you need to roll away and have faith in the God who created you?
We can have faith in who God is and His power. Jesus told Martha that “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me though he die, yet shall he live, and EVERYONE who lives and believes in me shall never die.” (Emphasis added) Have the faith of Martha who responded “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the son of God.” We may not have all the answers and know all that God is doing in our lives but move forward and take away the stone. Believe in who He says he is and His power. In faith let the #Stones of Life Speak.