Saturday, March 6th

I Am Lazarus: God Loves Me


Lazarus was in a death and life situation. He was in his tomb and his old life was gone. The grave had robbed him of his being and his aspirations. There was only cold emptiness and stillness. Then God said “come out”, and within his lifeless corpse there was a spark, a life giving light in the darkness which grew and overcame that darkness until Lazarus was changed from death into life. Within the darkness of the tomb, he became a new creation by the hand of God. Behold, “he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). He became what Christ wanted him to become, a living example of the power of God to bring life out of death and light out of darkness.

I have learned over the years that my aspirations, the things I wanted to achieve had to die in order for the aspirations of God for me, the things He wanted me to do, could come to pass. I had to learn to do what God put before me, to undertake the opportunities He gave me and respond to His callings. By doing so, I have participated in a great many exciting, amazing, and wonderful live experiences. There were many “tomb experiences” in my life where I have had to give up things that I wanted to do in order to earn a living, perform a duty, be a parent or friend, or respond to a call to serve, Thank God. I have also learned that, when I am experiencing a “tomb experience” and do not give it over to God, I simply remain in the tomb!

In order to give up my aspirations and self directed control over my life’s activities, I have had to learn to trust God and surrender myself to what opportunity He has given me or what call He has made on my life. I am still learning to do it “His Way” rather than “my way”. I have also found out that the term “my way or no way” simply means “no way”. I am engaged in a life long learning process with God. I am learning that “God loves me”, I am learning that “God provides,” and I am learning to overcome fear, or rather to let God overcome the fear that is within me.

When I become afraid, I find that I am bound in the tomb of worry and care. However, since I have experienced the love of God in my life and have come to know that, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear…(1 John 4:18)” I have found “the peace that transcends understanding.” Because God loves me, I trust him and know that “…in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)”. These are some of my Lazarus experiences.

R.S.