Questions of faith are answered in times of uncertainty, when there is confusion all around one.
“Do you believe this?” It’s a question Jesus asked Martha which demanded an answer. It’s a question we can fairly assume God asks all of us. Do we believe? All of our eternity changes by the answer to this question.
To refuse belief is to cast our lot with ourselves. It’s to commit our eternal destiny to chance or to our own ability to earn whatever we desire. It’s to go our own way believing we know better than Jesus and His teachings.
To believe, is to admit we are not in control except Jesus. It’s to confess a need for God’s forgiveness and admit our limitations to handle life on our own. It’s more than just accepting the facts about Jesus but a life-altering change of attitudes and actions attempting to respond to the way which Jesus calls. Every person answers the question, “Do you believe this?”
Curiously, it’s the timing of Jesus’ asking Martha the question that is fascinating. Jesus asked Martha this question on one of her darkest days. Her brother, Lazarus had died despite her efforts to save him. Martha had sent word to Jesus in hopes that Jesus would be able to get to the side of Lazarus before it was too late. Jesus responded slower than Martha had hoped and didn’t arrive until Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died,” Martha told him. They are words of bitterness for the slow response of Jesus but equally, they are words of tremendous faith. She knew Jesus held a power no one else had. Had Jesus been earlier in coming, she believed that He could have changed the outcome for Lazarus. Her statement was one of sorrow over timing, not anger over inability.
In the midst of her pain, Jesus reveals himself as being even more powerful than Martha realized. The finality of death didn’t apply to Jesus. When He is around, time never runs out. Jesus explained to Martha what he could do. Yet before he did anything, he questioned Martha’s faith. He didn’t ask the question after he raised Lazarus from the dead. He didn’t wait until the story was complete. Right in the middle of the situation when the outcome looked the most bleak was Jesus’ timing to ask the question.
It was true for Martha and, so often, it’s true for us. Questions of faith are most often answered in times of uncertainty. We always want more information. We would like to delay until we have a greater understanding. We want to know the rest of the story. But before the outcome is revealed, before the details fully unfold, we are asked to make our decision-do you believe this?
