John 11:1 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” 4 When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, 7 and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” 8 “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?” 9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. 10 It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.” I had planned to read through Johns entire recounting of the raising of Lazarus, but I had to stop at verse 10. I had to stop, because I remembered something that Joe Carolyn Fields told me many, many years ago. I wont go into the particulars, but when I was young in the ministry I had a problem with a situation and I decided I was no longer going to give myself to that problem. I felt defeated and my efforts seemed to bear no fruit. When I told Joe about this (we call it being open) he explained to me that when you shut off the light in a room you cannot control where the darkness goes. So me shutting down in this one particularly important area would have impact on areas of my life that I could not foresee or control. I have said this 100s of times since that day. I have used it in sermons and shared it as personal advice, because it became an integral facet of my walk with Christ. I am not saying Ive never struggled with the desire to shut down or to shut down my efforts for Christ and the fellowship, but I have always known it was wrong and the consequences dire. So I have thought about what Joe said often and applied it and reapplied it to my life times beyond my ability to remember. Jesus said in Vs 9-10 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.” I have had to decide to not turn out the lights on a few areas lately and instead to pursue Jesus and to walk according to his light. For me that means, basically acting in accordance with his Word and not my Feelings. So this morning take a few moments to examine yourself and ask what areas of my life have I shut the light off or allowed the light to be extinguished? Did someone hurt you, so now you are distrustful? Did a leader mislead you, so now you have lost all confidence in leadership? Has a friend, you were there for, not been there for you? So now you find yourself with no deep friendships? Have you given up on your marriage, your children, your family, because so far your efforts have not born fruit? Have you given up on giving, because things didnt turn out the way you dreamed? There are a lot of things for us to consider, but ultimately the answer to all these problems is to do what Jesus said to do about all these problems. He is THE LIGHT a major point in Johns Gospel and his later writings. All other approaches to any difficulty, disappointment, despair, or damage is acting in the darkness. There is no in between. Please pray for me as I strive to walk in THE LIGHT and I will pray for you also. Love you all! Oh I almost forgot. I repented when Joe taught me that and that little problem bore incredible fruit!
Posted on: Sat, 30 Aug 2014 14:19:57 +0000
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