The David Spoon Experience 8-23-24 part 2

1) Okay, little buckaroos, get ready for an exciting, themed teaching. In our DDDDD’s, we find ourselves in the Gospel of John, Chapter 11, and we find out that sometimes what appears to be just devastation has an entirely different premise to it. Lazarus was sick and dying, but even in this immensely intense situation, there is a purpose behind it all—just not one that people can see. 
2) When the situation is explained to Jesus, His disciples decide to chime in. That's kind of what happens with Christians; they hear about a situation and decide to give their input. That happened with Job's three friends, who could not have been more incorrect in their assessment. But in this situation, we get to find out the disciples just didn't get it. What's funny is that, in the framework of the things we encounter or the people encounter around us, we often don't get it. 
3) One of the most amazing elements of this truth is that Lazarus was dead for four days. Why that's significant is because there was a common belief that after three days, there was no possible way for a person to return. Three days was the maximum in rabbinical thought. So how did God set this whole thing up. God made sure that Lazarus was good and dead before the miracle would come about. Think about that for a moment. 
4) You know, one of my favorite elements in this story is John 11:35, where the scripture says, "Jesus wept." It wasn't the only time that Jesus wept, but in fact, He wept. He was moved. It touched Him because what happens to His own happens to Him. We don't often think about it, but what we're going through and how we feel is something He knows exactly about, sees, and bears our pain with us. The reason that He does that is because He loves us. 
5) But the key in this story always has been and always will be that God doesn't ask our permission about how He does things. Jesus gave the command to roll the stone away. Everybody was aghast; they could not believe it. They knew that Lazarus did not have Arrid Extra Dry and he was going to stink. That's funny because we often think what's going to happen is going to stink. 
6) But beyond that, the reality is that the method God used is not one that we would have preferred, and also the reality is that the timing God used is not one that we would have preferred. In other words, God's timings and God's methods are foreign to us, so we wish that He would get on our page and do it our way. That would make sense …if we were God.