Blamed or Believed

Blamed or Believed

John 11: ¹⁷ So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸ Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. ¹⁹ And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.

²⁰ Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. ²¹ Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”

²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

²⁴ Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. ²⁶ And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

²⁷ She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

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As the car in front of me crept through the yellow light, I was forced to stop. “That car made me late for work!” I exclaimed. When finally I made it to the meeting, I noticed they got my breakfast order wrong. “They did this on purpose” I thought to myself. I really did not like the person who was hosting the meeting.

• There were situations out of my control that were easier to blame someone so I could make sense out of it.
• There were times when it was easier to blame someone else when I did not get “my” way.
• There were times when I blamed the benevolent, misunderstanding their motives because I could not see how someone would care for me.

Martha was hurt that JESUS did not come in time to “save” her brother. While JESUS told her what HE was about to do by saying “Your brother will rise again”, she replied “Yeah, yeah, yeah, resurrection” as if to say, “But what about now?” She blamed JESUS for not being there for her.

• GOD wants me to throw away my blame for others.
• GOD wants me to get rid of blaming HIM for difficult situations.
• GOD wants me to believe in HIS power to sustain, fix and grow me.

JESUS is “The resurrection AND the life.” HE is focused on this life as well as the afterlife. HE is not to be blamed, but praised. JESUS has a great plan for me that sometimes I do not understand. HE gives me the faith to know HE has no harm meant for me but a plan to prosper me.

• Who are you blaming for where you are in life?
• Do you blame GOD easily?
• Will you trade your easy “blame” for easy “belief” in JESUS today?