Encouragement

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“I shall be filled when I awake with the sight of your glory, O Lord.” Psalms 17:15

How many of us are so strong in our Christian belief that we are certain we can never be moved or our faith influenced by any crisis in life? How many of us actually believe that God’s glory is being manifested day after day on this earth not just in big miracles but also in every small daily happening in life?

“If you believe, you will see the glory of God.” (John 11:40.) I used to hold on to this line very strongly in life. It was like a rock on which I had built my faith. This line worked countless miracles in my life and I used to always share this inspiring verse with others. But somewhere, down the line, this verse just slipped out of my mind. And though, I had taken recourse in other inspiring verses from the bible, this awesome verse took a backseat.
Until, recently, one of my friends to whom I had cited this verse reminded me of how she was glad I had shared this line with her as she had always held on to this verse which seemed to have helped her sail through tough situations. I was deeply touched to hear this and have my own memory refreshed.

This awesome verse was recited by Jesus to Martha after the death of Lazarus. Somehow, I have always equated my own family with that of Lazarus, Martha & Mary, having an elder sister and brother of my own.

We know how deeply attached Jesus was to this special family and He always stayed with them in Bethany on the way to His visits to Jerusalem. But, here, we see how Jesus stayed back where He was even after hearing that Lazarus was gravely ill instead of rushing to meet him, considering how much He loved him. This was for a purpose; to manifest His own glory which He was going to perform shortly. When finally, Jesus visits Martha & Mary and is taken to the tomb of Lazarus, Martha cautions Jesus on having the tomb opened since it was four days since Lazarus’ burial. But Jesus tells her that if she believed she would see the glory of God and calls out to Lazarus to come out of the tomb. The people are awe-struck at seeing Jesus raise Lazarus back to life.

If we draw a parallel between this event and our own lives; there are times when the Lord will not move to change certain situations in our life. He holds back and we can only presume it is for the same reason, to manifest His glory in a greater way.
We may also try to dissuade the Lord as Martha did by affirming our concerns that nothing can come out of a situation and it is lost forever. But Jesus wants us to believe that even after all hope is lost, He can still perform a miracle, enabling us to see His glory.

We should also respond as Martha did and confirm our faith in the Lord that He is the Resurrection and the life, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.” (John 11:27)
Just as Jesus wept on seeing the tears of Martha & Mary; He also weeps when He sees our own tears trying to struggle with our predicaments. He offers comfort and consolation to us through the Eucharist and His mighty Spirit.

The tomb of Lazarus also prefigured the own resurrection of Jesus which was going to take place shortly. Even today, Jesus is still inviting us to come out of our dark tombs of fear, disbelief and doubts in the Lord’s abilities. To believe with all of our hearts, minds and souls. Even death is not the end. As, St. Paul tell us in (Romans 8:11) “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through His Spirit which dwells in you.”

We should firmly believe in our hearts that the Glory of God is not limited to the world only but is extended and manifested in all its splendor in the kingdom of Heaven when our own resurrection takes place. When Jesus hung on the Cross, with his hands outstretched, it was the greatest open invitation of Love. All, we have to do is extend our hands and accept the Lord’s invitation to a life of bliss with Him forever.

After all, as Jesus said, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, whoever does not believe will be condemned.”( Mark16:16)
May our creed always be, “Yes, Lord, I believe.”

Maria Franco
 

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