Many people lose their faith when they forget Lazarus. By human standards, it was far too late for him to receive his miracle. Four days in the grave doesn’t even take a lawyer to convince us of his demise. His sisters, Mary and Martha were devastated, both telling Jesus if only He had been there, their brother would have been saved.

For America, the last decade has been ripe with all kinds of Lazarus-loss. Everyone reading this probably knows someone, or have themselves lost a home or a job. A loved one or a marriage. No matter how advanced our culture becomes, hardship slips in on the breeze, impervious to financial status or healthy living. Parts of our lives crumble into the tomb where it’s dark, hopeless.

Trying to move forward can be full of bitterness; waking up to heartbreak every day, dragging our feet by that tomb holding our loss. Where is God when the good things start to slip away? Is His eye still on the sparrow?

Jesus didn’t scold the sisters for grieving or confronting Him about His absence when he showed up days late. He mourned with them.

Then He walked to the cave in which Lazarus was buried and raised him from the dead. Earlier, right before His journey to Bethany, He tells the disciples that He is going there to wake Lazarus, saying, “…and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe.”

There’s this place in-between where God works, like the three days between Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection. The days between Lazarus’ death and his own restoration. In this place, we’re reminded that we don’t rule the world. We can’t control our circumstances, but if we do like the sisters and the disciples and keep our eyes focused on Jesus, He’s going to show us how our circumstances can bring hope to a struggling world. Hope beyond what we could ever have imagined.

I hope you have a blessed weeks, friends. Just a reminder, Wake is on sale until Wednesday…only .99! As of this moment, it’s #1 Amazon bestseller in Christian Science Fiction.