What’s Love Got to Do With It?

If there is any common agreement among people from all walks of life it is that life is terribly unpredictable. Sometimes the uncertainty of life is thrilling. It increases hope for the possibility of an exciting outcome. But most often, when we consider the unpredictability of life, we are left with a sense of fear at the uncertain prospects looming over the unknown future.

Unfortunately, too many people know this fear by experience. It has been induced by all sorts of unpredictable hardships. A spouse files for divorce. A cancer diagnoses comes crashing in. An illness brings one to the precipice of death. A job gets taken away. A child rebels. A war breaks out. The possibility of undesired events happening at any moment are an endless reality.  

Naturally for Christians, and sometimes non-Christians, the immediate reaction is to question God ins some sense. “Why God?” is a familiar refrain. The questions proceed from an assumption and a belief. The belief is in God’s power and goodness. Indeed, He is all-powerful and all-good so the question follows: why does He allow bad things to happen? The assumption, however, tends to contort the belief. If He is all-powerful and all-good then it is assumed that He wouldn’t let bad things happen. The assumption is that His goodness and the bad things in our lives cannot coexist; His goodness and power would prevent bad things from happening. Many skeptics have capitalized on such an assumption to disprove the goodness of God, the power of God, or even the existence of God.

But while He is all-good and all-powerful, He is also all-wise. And in that wisdom exists the comingling of goodness with the permission of difficulty in life.

To be sure, the reason bad things happen in life is because this world is fallen. There were no devastating events before the fall of humanity. Sin broke every area of creation. But why doesn’t God bring an end to all of that? Why doesn’t He just do away with all that is bad – i.e., remove sin and its effects?

Two answers are immediate. First, to do away with sin means He would have to do away with us. We sin, and for sin to be removed we must be removed; a prospect most of us don’t want to happen.

Second, in the permitting of difficulty there is a unique expression of God’s love.

Consider John 11 when Jesus raises a dead man named Lazarus back to life. Before He does that, a few things happened. In verse 3 we find Martha and Mary, sisters to Lazarus, sending word to Jesus that the man whom He loves was ill and dying. Jesus did indeed love Lazarus. It is not only mentioned twice in the passage, but expressed when the Lord weeps for Him.

Upon receiving the message, Jesus declares that this illness will not ultimately end in death, but it is for the glory of God. That is in verse 4. Then, strangely so, it is repeated in verse 5 that Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus; a reality we were already clued into in verse 3. However, this time we are told that Jesus’ love leads to a certain action.

In verse 6 John shows the action motivated by Jesus’ love. He says, “So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was (emphasis added).”

Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus so much that when He heard that Lazarus was ill and dying, He stayed put for two days. That does not seem like a normal reaction. In fact, when we read on, we find that Lazarus ended up dying while Jesus waited those two days. This isn’t a surprise to Jesus. As He was preparing to leave for Bethany (where Lazarus was) He told the disciples that Lazarus had died. He knew full well what was taking place.

So, why wait? And why tie His waiting to His love for them?

Permit me a moment of informed speculation. Presumably Lazarus’ illness was not pleasant. Whatever may have been his ailment, illnesses that result in death are rarely pleasant – especially in times without modern medicine. Additionally, as we discover later in the chapter, Martha and Mary had to endure the illness, death, and sorrow of losing their brother – perhaps the source and stability of their livelihood. Thus, while Jesus knowingly delays His journey, Lazarus dies from an illness, and Mary and Martha suffer the sorrow of putting their deceased brother in the tomb. To demonstrate the level of sorrow of which Martha and Mary were experiencing, by the time Jesus arrives in Bethany they are still grieving. How in the world can this be related to Jesus’ love for them mentioned in verse 5? How can Jesus allow these three people to endure this tragedy as an act of love?

By the end of the chapter Jesus has raised Lazarus back from the dead. Fast forward on and we find these three again – Mary, Martha, and Lazarus – enjoying a dinner with Jesus in chapter 12, where Lazarus is also said to be sitting with Jesus.

Here is the point: Mary, Martha, and especially Lazarus, experienced Jesus in ways that no one else had experienced Him. They came to know something of His power, goodness, kindness, provision, and life that no one else had enjoyed. In short, they learned something about Jesus that they would not have known if Lazarus didn’t die. The key to all of this comes in verse 27. Martha, though grief stricken and broken, trusted Jesus. She believed and clung to Him.  

I am almost certain, that when the time came for Lazarus to die again, and even for Mary and Martha to die for the first time, they faced death with a different degree of confidence than most.

Sometimes God will permit hardship in life so that we may know Him in ways that we would not have otherwise known Him. We see this to be true in the life of Paul (2 Corinthians 1:3-11), Peter (1 Peter 5:10), King David, Moses, and so many others. As an act of love, God permits people to experience hardship so that they might have a greater measure of Himself – a greater intimacy, faith, confidence, and exposure of Himself.

Jesus didn’t lessen Lazarus’ struggles. He didn’t lessen Mary or Martha’s days of grieving and worry. But He did allow them to walk through a dark period so that on the other side they might know Him in ways that were previously impossible. So it is with us also. If you find yourself in a dark spot, instead of wondering why God would allow something like this to happen to you, be filled with hope at the ways you will know and enjoy God in more depth than previously possible. He truly does work all things for our good (Romans. 8:28). His dealing with us always comes from a place of love.