Have hope...for Sunday's Comin'!

I'm reading this book called, "Having A Mary Heart In A Martha World." This book is incredibly challenging and full of lessons and reminders that someone like me, who is constantly busy, needs to hear. I read the eighth chapter of this book tonight. My phone was off, the house was all to myself, all I heard was quiet...a rare thing! This chapter really challenged me and made me see the love of God in a new way. It was about Lazerus, and how Jesus and him were close friends. Mary and Martha (Lazerus’ sisters) wanted Jesus to come when Lazerus was sick, and he ended up dying. From our human eyes, we can't see or understand, as I'm sure Mary and Martha didn't understand, why He wouldn't come. He heard the news of his friend's illness and didn't leave to see him for 2 more days. Why would he do that? His sisters knew that He could heal him. They had faith that He was able… of course for those of us who know the story, we know that Jesus ended up bringing Lazerus back to life. God had a plan in it all. The waiting… he wanted the women to trust Jesus, to know that He was able to bring him back. Sometimes the Lord wants us to wait. And wait, and wait and wait. It’s not because He’s too busy. It’s not because He doesn’t care. But it’s in the waiting that makes us cling to Him! It’s in the waiting, that time in between where we really have to choose Who or what we will trust.

God's ways are not our own! He sees the big picture that we cannot see. It grieves the Lord to see us hurt, but He KNOWS what He's doing! He is taking every aspect of our life, every broken piece, every hurt piece, and turning it into a beautiful thing... "for the good of those that love God."

"Tragedy may come. So will the darkness. But triumph is waiting just around the corner.

It may be Friday, but Sunday's comin'."

What a great way to put it! Friday, the day of Jesus’ death. Who could have possibly thought that anything good would come from that day?! No one! All anyone could do was focus on what they had lost. The pain that they felt… but soon enough, Sunday came and Jesus was alive! He was raised from the dead and they could see the good that came from Friday’s tragedy! It may be Friday or Saturday in our lives…it may be for more then 3 literal days, it may be years. But Sunday will one day come! It may not be til we see Jesus face to face, it may be moments from now. But God is going to use our hurts and confusions and pain and show us that He had a plan all along!

Take creation for example. Adam and Eve sin in the garden… a BAD thing! They were separated from Jesus and banned from Eden. But that is how the Lord’s plan of redemption was started. God used something horrible and turned it into the greatest story ever told. “What Satan intends for evil, God still turns for good.” Max Lucado says, “the moment the forbidden fruit touched the lips of Eve, the shadow of a cross appeared on the horizon.” God had a plan.

So whatever it is we are facing in our lives, whether it’s Friday, Saturday, or Sunday… God has a plan. God has an amazing story for our lives. He most likely won’t share it all at once, it may only be a page at a time. We’ll have to wait. Sometimes the waiting will be hard, and we won’t understand. But that’s because we haven’t finished reading our story yet. Be patient. He is the Author. We can trust Him and His ways. We can trust Him and His love. Rest in Christ and Christ alone. Nothing is too big or messy for God to make it into something good and beautiful.

Trust God with your story. With your life. He is good.

And Sunday’s comin’.