When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him” (John 11:32-36 NIV)!
Jesus saw Lazarus and wept. Likewise, God sees your situation. He grieves when you grieve. He cries when you cry. He has compassion over you. Just because He hasn’t moved as quick as you want Him to, does not mean that He is not privy to your emergency. It does not mean that He does not care about you. He loves you very much and feels your grief. In due time He will restore and refresh your Lazarus.
Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God” (John 11:38-40 NIV)?
In order to raise Lazarus Jesus told them to roll away the stone. I believe God is saying the same to you too. In order for Him to raise your dreams, ideas, visions He needs you to roll away the stone that you used to close your heart to that desire, which God placed in you. He is not going to roll away the stone; you have to roll away the stone. Open up for God to restore you. Be open to receive what God wants to do in you and through you.
Perhaps your response is like Martha’s: “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” Have you ever been in a situation so bad that it stinks? It is so messy; and you’ve been in that situation a long time. It looks very dead and buried. Perhaps it was a dream you tried to accomplish before. Maybe you tried to fulfill a vision or desire in your heart a while ago. But things broke down and you got hurt and devastated. So you buried that dream. Just because you’ve closed yourself to that dream from ever being fulfilled does not mean that God forgot about it. Now is the time, and God is saying that you should open up so that He can bring that dream, vision, idea, or desire to life.
Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard Me. “And I know that you always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that you sent Me.” Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And he who died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “loose him, and let him go” (John 11:41-44 NKJV).
After they rolled away the stone Jesus told Lazarus to come forth. But when he came forth he came out bound hand and foot, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. Similarly I believe God is calling you to come forth! Perhaps you have heeded the call. Maybe you’ve opened your heart to allow God to move in your life. He has called you forth and you have taken the leap of faith. But like Lazarus, you are still bound; hand, foot and face. And because of this, you can’t do anything because your hands are tied. You can’t go anywhere because your feet are shackled, and you can’t see or perceive anything that God is doing because your eyes are closed.
Be encouraged! God has not finished with you yet. Be confident in the fact that the work that God has begun in you, He will complete it (Philippians 1:6). God does not do things half way. While we like God to resolve our situations in one swoop, sometimes He does it gradually. I believe He does this so that every step of the way our faith and trust in Him increases. Oftentimes God takes us through a process of deliverance to resolve our emergencies.
He called Lazarus out of his hole and loosed Him from the things that bound Him. Likewise, God is not only calling you forth, but in Jesus’ name loosing you from any strong holds!
Like Jesus did for Lazarus I’m declaring that you come forth! And satan the Lord rebuke you! I come against any demonic spirit, force, entity, situation or circumstance designed and assigned to hinder, frustrate or prevent you from being who God has called you to be! Satan loose this person and let them go!
While we are to exercise our authority as children of God to tell satan to loose us from strong holds he brought in our lives, sometimes we also loose ourselves from bondages by letting things go. By this I mean forgiveness. You may have stepped out of a hole. You may have come forth from a dead relationship. Even so, there is the tendency to carry the stench of that situation with you. And that stench could hinder you from doing what you need to do, go where you need to go, and see what you need to see.
The stench could be something that was said about you to belittle you. They could be words hurled at you like arrows to pierce your heart and hurt you. These things can cling on to you if you do not forgive the person that hurt you. These things can bind you; hand, foot and face. Forgive the person and release that bondage from your life, and then become the person God created you to be.
After Lazarus came forth, he was loosed from the things that tied him, and then he could see. In essence, Lazarus EMERGED and SAW after Jesus moved on His life. Similarly, God allows emergency situations in our lives so that we can emerge (come forth) and see His move in our lives. A Godly 911 emergency is an opportunity for you to emerge and see God move in your life.
Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him (John 11:45 NKJV).
Everything we go through is ultimately to bring glory to God. When people see us emerge from our shortfalls, they get to see God in our midst. This causes them to believe in Him and become part of the kingdom. God uses our situations not only for us to emerge and see Him in a new light, but also for others to see and believe in Him, too. Every time we go through tough situations, all we need is to look at how God brought us out from past emergencies. We can be assured that He will deliver us from our subsequent battles.
This picture shows the fetal position of a baby in her mother’s womb. Medical experts assert that this position is the best position for the baby to be birthed. Similarly our Great Physician (God) wants us to be in this position as it is the best position for us to be in, for Him to birth our dreams and birth us into our destiny. If you look closely at the baby in her mother’s womb and tilt the baby’s bottom down to the left so that it is on the same line with her head (see picture below), then you’ll see that this position is a prayer position.
Don’t forget what 911 means with regard to God’s purposes: vision (the baby), prayer (fetal position), death (the sacrifices of the mother), breakthrough (breaking through the birth canal), birth (complete delivery of the baby, which usually takes place at the last minute). Regardless of what we face in life we can be rest assured that we will be protected if we dial up God’s emergency phone number. It’s also 911; Psalm 91:1 to be precise.
HE who dwells in the secret place of the most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty (Psalm 91:1 NKJV).
The scripture above lets us know who abides under God’s protection. A 911 person abides under God’s protection. This person dwells in God’s secret place. In this place there is worship, prayer, giving of thanks and of alms. This person is simply a giver of themselves and their resources (like Cornelius). This person also lives a fasted life, which is a form of dying to self, death or denial. The secret things are things done in private to God. This is part of why they are secret. They are not done to impress anyone but to please God our protector and deliverer (Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18).
I encourage you to be a 911 person. I encourage you to dwell in God’s secret place. I encourage to love people and live a life of prayer, worship, giving and self denial; not as a formula but as a way to please our father in heaven who sees what you are doing in secret. For this He will reward you openly. He will move in your life so that you can emerge and see who you are in Him. And so that you can emerge and see the following declarations happen in your life:
Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday. Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you. Just open your eyes, and see how the wicked are punished. If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home. For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone. You will trample upon lions and cobras; you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet! The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation” (Psalm 91:1-16 NIV).