Jeff Adams

Yet when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was two more days. – John 11:6

This whole theme of hurting people continues to hold me captive.

You know the above verse, don’t you? Jesus had just received word that his friend was sick. You would think that he would hurry on his way to heal him. He did not. He stayed put for two whole days until Lazarus was good and dead. Why in the world would he do that!

Lazarus’ sister Martha articulated the emotion we have all experienced. “Lord, if you would have come, my brother wouldn’t have died.” Martha was probably questioning Jesus’ love for her brother. The real issue was not a lack of love, but the completion of God’s purposes.

How many times have we said or felt like saying something similar?

Os Hillman comments on this passage.

God often has to delay His work in us in order to accomplish something for His purposes that can be achieved only in the delay. Jesus had to let Lazarus die in order for the miracle that was about to take place to have its full effect. If Jesus had simply healed a sick man, the impact of the miracle would not have been as newsworthy as resurrecting a man who had been dead for four days. This is Jesus’ greatest “public relations act” of His whole ministry. What many do not realize is that the key to the whole story is in the next chapter.

Many people, because they had heard that He had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet Him. So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after Him!” (John 12:18-19)

If Jesus had not raised Lazarus from the dead, there would have been no crowds to cheer the Lord when He came into Jerusalem riding on a donkey.

God often sets the stage so that His glory is revealed through the events that He orchestrates. He did this with Moses and Pharaoh, allowing delay after delay for release of the Israelites from Egypt. He did this with Abraham and Sarah for the promised child, Isaac. God granted Sarah a baby past the age of childbearing in order to demonstrate His power.

I have many questions without answers. Why does God heal this one but not that one? Why did this one have to die? Why now? Did it have to be this way?

The reality is that God alone has all the answers and he owes me none. So, I suppose I’m right back to Zak’s concluding statement in his video testimony – “If God chooses to heal me, God is still God and God is still good. If God chooses not to heal me … then God is still God and God is still good.”

I slept in a couple of hours yesterday and it felt really good. Getting caught up on sleep after a busy week is nice when possible. Today, it was back to an early wake up to teach my mission class in Shepherd School.

For months we prayed along with the Student Mission Council that The Summit would not be just a conference, but the beginning of engagement in God’s mission for many people as they enter the story of God’s Kingdom. Each night during The Summit in my role as the closer, I pointed out specific ways to enter the story. Whether praying, giving, or going, there are practical steps for anyone to take.

There was a time when I thought I would take tomorrow morning (Sunday) as a time to reflect on what God has done at The Summit. However, as I looked over the passage in Nehemiah that corresponds to our series, I decided to stay the course, as the passage really does make for a nice follow up.  The Jewish inhabitants of Nehemiah’s day were rebuilding the foundations of Hebrew society and stepping up to own responsibility in God’s mission. Only two obstacles could keep them from fulfilling the mission. I’m calling this study “Two Buts and a Sure Bet.”

You read that right. Our final service of The Summit 2010 was this evening, but the reality of all we heard and experienced begins now. From the beginning we have prayed for much more than a conference.

Starting tomorrow, teams of people begin to Live Out Loud by engaging in ministries right here in our own city with the goal of continuing their involvement into the future. Some will minister through our outstanding City Union Mission. Some who are skilled in carpentry and other useful skills will be helping out a City Linc. Saturday a group will be doing evangelism and another group will be helping to get the ball fields ready for our largest evangelistic outreach – Youth League. Some are working as mentors with Middle Eastern refugees. Still others will be working with valuable ministries such as Veronica’s Voice.

God was stirring the hearts of many tonight, and I am convinced that over the course of this next year we will see others taking part in brief one or two week trips to interact and minister in opportunities on 5 continents. Actually, some of these opportunities are already full and there is a waiting list. Others will be taking a huge step of faith and stepping out for six months to a year or more taking on various types of missionary opportunities.  The fruit of the conference will only be known in the months and years ahead. We are just beginning.  But, wow! What a week!

One more mention of Chile – I got an email this morning that provided some very encouraging information about friends and contacts in Concepción. A couple of pastors have lost homes and churches, but for the moment it appears that there was no loss of life among them. I did hear from one friend who had lost  a friend and another friend lost his grandmother. One church where I was in August was spared extreme damage and had a well that they had not been using. Now that well is providing water for the entire area around them. Amidst all the damage, loss and suffering, some wonderful stories of heroism and witness are beginning to emerge. I’ll let you know if we have any direct pathways to help.

You remember the Abraham and Lot story, right? Abram, as he was first called, has just come back from Egypt after taking refuge there in a time of famine. In Genesis 13 it becomes apparent that the combined and expanding flocks of Abram and his nephew Lot are seriously taxing the land.

Lot has been along since the original migration from Mesopotamia (Iran/Iraq), but this is the first glimpse scripture gives us into his character. Rising tensions between shepherds for both men and other herders in the area bring matters to a head.

Abram wisely decides that something has to be done. He offers Lot first choice of the area he desires for his flocks. Whatever he chooses, Abram will go in the opposite direction in order to maintain peace in the family. Lot chooses the obvious best option – the rich Jordan Valley. As things would turn out, this is great for his herds, but probably not the best choice for raising his children.

Many years pass and both men prosper in spite of significant challenges, including the first “war” recorded in the Bible between two coalitions of local kings.  Abram rescues his nephew after he is kidnapped in the battle for control of Sodom and Gomorrah where Lot calls home. Abraham continues his journey of faith, growing by God’s grace and learning from his mistakes.

Abraham is still living the nomadic life in Genesis 18, when heavenly visitors arrive at his tent to announce the impending destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah due to unbridled sin and perversion. Abraham intercedes for the righteous living there.  His prayer is answered.

And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt. (Genesis 19:29)

What I find fascinating is the commentary on this story that is offered in Peter’s second epistle.

And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked. (2 Peter 2:6-7)

God spares Lot from destruction and calls him just or righteous! Can you believe that! By this time his life is a disaster and getting worse. Lot lived the good life of Sodom for quite a time. Now, with the destruction of his city of choice, he looses his h9me, his influence, his wife and everything he has. He doesn’t even have the credibility to convince his sons-in-law to flee the coming doom. Soon, he will fall into incest with his daughters.

There is an obvious disconnect between God’s use of the term just and the reality of Lot’s earthly existence. This is much like the credibility gap between those who have put their trust in the Gospel for eternal life yet contradict their faith daily with the way they live out their lives.  Lot lacks integrity and it seems everything points back to his choice of the best land for himself. From this moment forward, his life begins to spiral downward.

Here’s the question that occurs to me. What would I have chosen had I been Lot? Would the “spiritual” decision have been to choose the worst land for me so Abram could have the best, giving deference to the elder? Or, would it have been possible to have worked out some compromise or alternative? Perhaps they could have instituted some sort of rotation system.

At the very least this causes me to think about the importance of the decisions and choices we make in life and the lasting and extended consequences they bring. Maybe what I can take away from this is the idea of making choices by considering not my own potential benefit, but the benefits to the Kingdom of God.

Most of us know firsthand what it is to pass through dry, desert phases of life. My first reaction during such times is to think, “What did I do?” Could it be that sometimes God himself has led us directly into those times in the spiritual desert?

Motivational speaker and author Os Hillman offers some insight into this based on a passage in Hosea. Check out these couple of paragraphs.

Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. – Hosea 2:14

If you have an important message to convey to someone, what is the best means of getting the message through? Have you ever tried to talk with someone who was so busy you could not get him to hear you? Distractions prevent us from giving our undivided attention to the messenger. So too, God has His way of taking us aside to get our undivided attention. For Paul, it was Arabia for three years; for Moses, it was 40 years in the desert; for Joseph, it was 13 years in Egypt; for David, it was many years of fleeing from King Saul.

God knows the stubborn human heart. He knows that if He is to accomplish His deepest work, He must take us into the desert in order to give us the privilege to be used in His Kingdom. In the desert God changes us and removes things that hinder us. He forces us to draw deep upon His grace. The desert is only a season in our life. When He has accomplished what He wants in our lives in the desert, He will bring us out. He has given us a mission to fulfill that can only be fulfilled after we have spent adequate time in preparation in the desert. Fear not the desert, for it is here you will hear God’s voice like never before. It is here you become His bride. It is here you will have the idols of your life removed. It is here you begin to experience the reality of a living God like never before. Someone once said, “God uses enlarged trials to produce enlarged saints so He can put them in enlarged places!”