Giving Instructions

Giving Instructions

John 11: ¹² Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.” ¹³ However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.

¹⁴ Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵ And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.”

¹⁶ Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”

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Pressure was building as the week’s end was getting closer. Not seeing the results I hoped for, I gave very specific instructions to everyone to follow, step by step. Too much was on the line and we had to be successful. When I stepped back, I noticed people were moving slower, because they were waiting on my next set of instructions.

• I made the mistake of managing every little step.
• I made the mistake of thinking I could control the situation by having everyone perform just like me.
• I made the mistake of making everyone feel nervous instead of inspired.

Thoroughly misunderstanding the situation, the disciples spoke up about Lazarus. Rationalizing what was said to them, they immediately thought he may be asleep. JESUS made it plain that he was, in fact, dead. Thomas braced himself for the situation. If Lazarus is dead, then we must be going there to die too. I mean, why go to a place where killers are lurking?

• JESUS wants me to believe that HIS ways are not my ways.
• JESUS wants me to know that HE clears things up in amazing ways, not the way I think.
• JESUS wants me to understand that HE can and will do anything, especially when I cannot see how the situation could possibly be resolved.

“Pray” is what people have told me when I am facing difficulty, so I do. But I find myself nervously giving GOD instructions to handle things the way “I” would like to see them resolved. Fortunately GOD doesn’t listen to the instructions but listens to my heart.

HE clears up the situation in HIS way and I always find HIS way was better than what I was thinking. HE tells me to let go of trying to control the situation so HIS power can be seen by many, so they can believe. I am glad HE is in control.

• Are you facing a difficult situation that you feel there is no way out?
• Do you pray for specific things to happen with your limited sight into the situation?
• Will you admit that you may not know why “this” is happening but allow GOD to work out the situation HIS way, in HIS time?