“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” (John 11:21-22)
Last week’s Gospel verse was the story of Lazarus. Jesus gets word that Lazarus is sick but does not go to where he lives until after he has died. As Jesus is walking back to Judea to raise Lazarus from death, He runs into Martha, who is heartbroken. Whenever I read Martha and Mary’s words to Jesus: “if you had been here”, it resonates with me. I feel their pain and anguish – not only was their brother dead but the only hope they’d had for him to live didn’t come in time to save him. They were crushed. They didn’t know that Lazarus’ death served a purpose – to show how amazing God is. When Jesus brought Lazarus back to life it was God showing the world that Jesus truly was His son.
That story has been on my mind a lot this past week. As I read about more people dying – over 3,000 today in the U.S. alone, I know many people are turning to God and asking Him “where were you? If you had been here X would have lived….”
I want to remind you all that God IS HERE. God is all around us. We can see God in the health care workers doing everything in their power to help victims. We can see God in the people frantically making masks, or delivering food, or stocking shelves, or working as cashiers. It’s in the faces of the grocery delivery drivers and the doctors doing tele-health video calls to keep their patients safe. You can see God in the faces of the workers frantically doing their part to make ventilators to help save lives and the truck drivers driving day and night to deliver goods. He is in our police, EMT’s and firemen.
We are all Lazarus’s sisters right now. We can’t see the big picture – we only know that we are hurting. We know that with God all things are possible and that we can’t see how God will use this moment to perform miracles. All we can do is trust God.
“If you had been here” has changed to “I know you are here, God, and I turn all of my fears over to you.”
Dear Lord, thank you for all you are doing right now for the world. Thank you for helping those who are taking care of others – whether they are health care workers, grocery store clerks, our EMTS, firemen and police, or those who are frantically working to find a cure. Thank you for enabling them to show us that you are here right now, working through them to help others. Amen.