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 hello thank you for listening to your daily Bible verse the podcast that examines one verse each day to learn more about God and His will for us I'm your host Jennifer Slattery and after the short word from our sponsor will dive into today's Bible verse John 11:37
 hey there it's Nicole Eunice host of the how to study the Bible podcast for every single week we join together to encounter God through his word you can subscribe at life audio.com
 today's Bible verse is John 11:37 but some of them said could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying one day when a friend's daughter was in second maybe third grade she asked her to help her with some household chores and the young girl replied if you really love me now those of you with children are probably chuckling right now and I should clarify today this woman is a loving self-sacrificing generous adult who intentionally seeks out opportunities to serve it with my friend relay this story to me it made me think of times when I have you. God's actions or lack of actions through the same faulty lens assuming if you truly loved me that he would act in a certain way the stories surrounding today's verse illustrates that God operates out of perfect Flawless wisdom and perfect love then we don't understand we can only see what is directly
 in front of us a problem that seems able to capsize our dreams or everything we hold dear where is God sees our entire lives our momentary hardships are doubt and the questions very deep in our souls and the face and Assurance he wants to grow within us if you're familiar with the Bible you might recognize this miracle recorded in John chapter 11 one day near the end of Jesus Earthly Ministry a man named Lazarus someone price cared deeply for felt ill and so according to verse 3 his sister sent word say Lord the one you love is sick did you catch what she said their lord no one you love is sick don't skip over this the sisters were confident of Christ love for their brother but presumably for them as well they entered their crisis with that knowledge they
 we're laughed when I speak to women at conferences and Retreats this is a reality I often highlight the fact that you and I are love because no one that truly believing that has profound impact on our lives are emotions our relationships and how we handle hard circumstances Everything feels more manageable less frightening and painful when we choose to trust God's love not just in a general theological sense but trust in his love for us personally Martha entered her crisis with that knowledge and insurance and she fully expected Jesus to respond immediately to rush to our house and to keep her brother from dying to heal him there by keeping her and her younger sister and her brother from Pain only Jesus delayed for 3 days during which time Lazarus died
 let's sit here for a moment those of us who've read the full story told in the span of 44 vs less than a full chapter knowing how it all turns out might be tempted to skip past the anguish these women felt watching their brother got sicker and sicker watching for Jesus to come maybe even hearing from whoever they had sent to fetch him that he showed no signs of coming that he had in fact remained where he was teaching and healing the masses and imagine the pain Lazarus must have felt as well for himself as he was dying and also for his grieving sisters as he progressively approach dad
 and then he breathed his last Jesus had not come at least not in time not from a human perspective in reality however Jesus showed up at the perfect time to accomplish his perfect plans first Martha then Mary came out to meet him both of them stating Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died now in scripture tells us when Jesus saw Mary and the Jews that were with her weeping he was moved to tears some of those present that day took his peers as evidence of his love others discounted or downplayed Jesus's display of emotion stating could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying they believe if Jesus had truly loved Lazarus he would have kept him from dying another word that he would have responded accordingly to their expectations when he didn't they assumed Christ delay and how things appear to that
 particular point in time should lack of care that they were wrong Jesus thought and felt deep compassion for their pain he heard their prayers he knew what they desperately wanted but more than that you know what day and everyone else is gathered around lazarus's tomb needed he was focused beyond their temporary pain as deep as their English was in on to Eternity to heaven where sickness heartache and death would no longer exist and so Jesus allowed Lazarus to die and to remain dead for four days which from the Jewish perspective was well beyond hope and then erased him to life so that Martha Mary Lazarus and everyone else watching the miracle unfold would come to believe in the one who is the resurrection and the life Jesus is our pain as well he's
 is our pain and he hears our prayers we won't always like or comprehend why he does what he does we may not understand his hand but we can always always trust his heart we can enter any prices we can walk through any crisis intentionally reminding ourselves that we are the people he loves we are God's chosen deeply loved children and sometimes that's a choice let's pray
 Holy Father thank you for your love for us thank you that you are always present whether we can hear you whether we can feel you or sense your presence or not you are with us and you have promised you would never leave as you have promised your lab you've told us again and again through scripture how much you love us and then you demonstrated that love when you sent your son to come to Earth to take our sin upon himself and to die on the cross and Jesus revealed his love in that moment as well when were tempted to doubt when we are tempted to you our circumstances as an indication of lack of Love remind us of that moment when Jesus hung on the cross for us when he gave his very life so that we could live deeply connected with him or search our hearts search our minds remove the lies that that cul-de-sac
 bondage that keep us afraid that make us feel more anxious and that lead to despair help us to feel our emotions authentically but also to inform our emotions with Ruth scripture is true in the name of your precious Victoria's son Our Savior we pray amen
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