It's Too Late, Lord.

"When Mary arrived where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.....Jesus said, 'Take the stone away.' Martha, the dead man’s sister, told Jesus, “Lord, there must already be a stench. He’s been dead for four days.”
 - John 11:32,39 (GW)

 I learned something from Martha and Mary again! If you haven't read the previous post, click here Eliminating the Unnecessary. 

Sometimes in life we give up and lose hope easily. This loss of hope can also affect the way we view God. Let me illustrate this with Mary and Martha. 

Lazarus, their brother, had been sick and had just died. When he was sick, they had sent a message to Jesus; they knew that if  He came, He would heal him. They knew Jesus was a healer, He had healed many people before. He had healed the royal officer's son, the paralyzed man at the pool and many others. But the issue was that, when Jesus finally came, Lazarus was dead. Mary and Martha had given up. It was too late. Their brother was gone. We can see that that's what they thought because:

1. Although Mary had deep reverence for Jesus ( "she knelt at his feet"); she said to Him, "Lord, IF YOU HAD BEEN HERE..."
2. When Jesus asked for the stone be rolled away, Martha said " There is a STENCH. HE'S BEEN DEAD FOUR DAYS". (Emphasis added).

They had lost hope even in the Lord. But you know what Jesus told Martha? He said “Did I not tell you that IF YOU BELIEVE, you will see the glory of God?” (v.40). Jesus had already told Martha that her brother will rise again but she did not believe and so she limited God (v.23-24). But that didn't stop Jesus; He went on ahead and shouted “Lazarus, come out!” and guess what? Lazarus came out! He came back to life, still wrapped up in his burial clothes (v.43-44).

When I read this, I had been reading Ephesians and the Spirit revealed something to me. I remembered this verse: "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins....But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,  made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions" (Eph.2:1,4-5).
   
 We all have many loved ones, friends and family, who do not know the Lord. We all have things that we might be giving up on. Lost causes so to say. Things that HAVE BEEN DEAD MANY DAYS, MONTHS OR EVEN YEARS. But you know what? We were all dead once.I was dead for many years, I stunk way more than Lazarus, people might have given up on me but that didn't stop the Lord from calling out to me. And He shouted "Twi, come out!" and I came out of that dark and rotten place and stepped into life and into light.

I want to say to you, don't give up. Don't lose hope. Don't let your view of God be changed by your current situations. Maybe your health, finances, relationships, spiritual life or whatever it is, is dead. Despite all this, you must chose to remember that He has victory over death and nothing is impossible for Him (1 Cor.15:55; Luke 1:37).