Photo Source: www.creationswap.com by Jason Harper
We’ve all been touched by tragedy. And we’ve seen it in the world around us. We can’t live our lives without being aware that this is a fallen world with pain and suffering. We can try to ignore it and insulate ourselves in our safe little bubble. But with our multi-media world it’s becoming harder and harder to NOT be aware of the magnitude of suffering in this world.
And we can’t help but wonder, where was God?
I’m reminded of the story of Jesus’s friend Lazarus in John chapter 11. Jesus was off in another part of the country, doing the work of his ministry, when he got word that his friend was seriously sick to the point where they were afraid he was going to die. They needed Jesus to come and heal him. But an interesting thing happens. Though he knew what was happening, and just how serious it was, Jesus doesn’t go.
But two days later, when Jesus knew by the spirit that Lazarus’ suffering was over and that he had in fact died, Jesus gathers his disciples and heads toward the house of Lazarus. And he’s met on the road by Lazarus’ sister, weeping and blaming Jesus for the death of her brother. If you had only been here, she said.
And we’ve all thought that… Jesus, where are you? Why did you let this happen? If you had only been here! Do you even care? Don’t you see my suffering? Are you here with me?
But Jesus knew what happened. He knows what tragedy we experience. He knows when people are bleeding and dying. He knows what we’re going through. And He understands our pain. He was there at the graveside himself weeping, not just for Lazarus who was dead, and for his sisters who didn’t understand what was happening and why their brother had to die, but he was weeping because of his sorrow for his friend that died and for a fallen world that brings death and sorrow and weeping. And He is weeping with us today and the tragedy in our lives.
We may not see him. And he may not intervene in the way we think he should, but God is with us in the midst of our tragedy.