There is a similar issue with the church and nonbelievers, and it’s so sad. It’s sad because we’ve all done it and it is so easy to do. We can be so quick to see something happen and just assume God didn’t do anything about it.
Why is this happening? Why didn’t this happen? How could God?
And as soon as this train of thought comes up we need to shut it down just as quickly as it began. There is nothing right about questioning any of what God does. Again, do we do it on purpose? I don’t believe so. Does it happen far too much? Yes, especially for believers.
Where did I get this from? I was reading the story of Lazarus the other day. And after all Jesus had done, people still had an issue with what they thought He wasn’t doing. Those who were watching had a bigger problem with Lazarus death than it seemed Mary and Martha had.
And after all that Jesus had done for the people that He already didn’t have to do, they felt some way about Lazarus being dead. Really? The problem with the naysayers and the know it alls, and it’s still an issue today, was that they wanted God to do what He had already done.
Too often we face the same problem today. All we can think of is what we wished God would have done, not realizing that it is already done. We want that opportunity and God has already provided it. Our focus has been in the wrong place the whole time and our faith clearly has as well.
They wanted to know why Jesus couldn’t save Lazarus who was already saved. And I can’t help but think about how much I ask God to give and provide for what He already has. People are wondering why God won’t save a world full of His children, when the fact of the matter is that He has saved His children.
Interestingly enough, the Lazarus Effect I’ve always missed in the story, is the one that asks why God couldn’t do what He had already done. It’s really sad to be both spiritually dead and spiritually blind.
John 11: 37 But some said, “This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?”