DID I NOT SAY...

"Jesus said to her, 'Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?'" -John 39:40

This is one of my favorite Bible verses. This conversation took place between Martha and Jesus. Martha’s brother who was Jesus’ good friend was laying in the tomb. He had been dead for three days. Martha was hurting because her brother Lazarus was dead, and she and Mary, her sister, were left alone. Jesus, their best friend, didn’t come to their aid as they had requested of him.

Now it was too late. Lazarus was dead. Three days had gone by, and the body began to take on a terrible odor. Martha and all those at the tomb knew it. Jesus on the other hand was there to raise his friend back from the dead. He was there on a life mission. Jesus was about to show His power and glory by raising a dead man back to life.

Jesus told them to roll away the stone and called Lazarus to come forth. Imagine the looks and whispers of the people when they saw the big huge stone rolling away. This wasn’t just a small little task. It took men with all their might and power to roll that stone away. “Lazarus, come forth,” Jesus, the Son of God, called out. I'm sure people were looking at Jesus like He was crazy and out of his mind. Within a moment, out walks the dead man, wrapped in his death clothes.

Can you imagine that scene? People in complete shock, mouths hanging open, complete shock and awe. Martha went from saddened to happiness , and sorrow to joy. Can this really be? Is my dead brother alive?

A few years ago. My Mom’s cousin, my godmother received a terrible visit. The police stood before her. They told her that her son, my cousin, was killed in a car accident. The body was unrecognizable. My godmother went into shock. The family was mourning. We were hurting for her and the rest of the family. Plans were being made. Family was gathering to comfort her. Phone calls were being made. We were mourning his death. It was a terrible day. Late in the evening, the phone rang. My Aunt answered the phone crying. The person on the other end asked her, "What’s wrong, why are you crying?" The voice was of the dead son!

That’s right you read that correctly, my cousin was calling his Mom every single night. Only he wasn’t dead. He was very much alive. It was mistaken identity. My Godmother fainted on the spot. Sorrow had turned to unbelievable joy. In my cousin’s case, he never died. In Lazarus case, he was very dead for three days.

I want to point out Jesus’ question to Martha. “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”

“Did I not say to you....?” You see, Jesus is constantly saying things to his children. We are just not listening. I wonder how many things we miss hearing.

“Did I not say if you only believe...?” There’s that word again “If!” So many people miss it right here. They don’t get past this two letter word that has the power to change everything. A few years back, we had a job position at one of the companies I work for. I was watching the potential employee. I had huge plans for that individual. My team knew it. My assistant came to me, “Teresa, you sure you want to offer this person a position?” I trusted her opinion, she was my cousin. I chose her because I could trust she had my back. I replied, “Well only IF the person can prove they can handle the position of power.” We watched for months. I encouraged and dropped lots of hints hoping the person would do the “If!” Unfortunately, the person didn’t and missed out on a position and salary people would give both arms and legs for. The person never knew what they missed out on because they didn’t apply the “If!”

What really gets me in this story is the last part. “You would see the glory of God.” In this powerful question (statement really) that Jesus makes has another powerful word. Believe... IF you BELIEVE. In other words, “Mary if you just accept the truth of who I am, if you trust me, if you think it will happen, if you have the confidence in who I am, if you regard me as able to do anything, and if you have confidence in who I am, you will see the glory of God.

Do you understand what the glory of God is? It means the impossible and the unbelievable will happen. You will see the splendor of his majesty, his magnificent power in full display. The glory of God leaves us in awe of who He is. There’s no explanation for His miracles and wonders. It’s all because His compassion never fails and great is His faithfulness.

I choose to believe, in the midst of this crisis, we will see the glory of God. After months of death and destruction, we are going to see His glory. Remember His question as we are tempted to buckle under doubts and uncertainties.

“Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” I cannot and will not doubt the power of God and the splendor of His glory. We sure will go back to normal living again. Except this time, we will always remember how God miraculously, intervened and gave us a miracle. Folks, you can’t say you are a Christian and add fear and disbelief to your “Faith.” I’m sorry to tell you that’s not faith at all.

People of faith stand on the living Word of God. Not on the knowledge of man. That’s why it’s called faith. I’m standing with all I have in me. God has intervened and is ending all this man created fear.

Concentrate on what Jesus asked Martha. She got to see her brother come back from the dead. We shall see the death of Covid-19.

Rev. Dr. Teresa Allissa Citro Founder and President of Thread of Hope, Inc.

#TopicArticle #glory #God #faith #hope #belief