When God Speaks to You, Do Not Be Unbelieving

The Lord has an understanding of things, but people who are not fully initiated into divine reasoning see things in a more limited and impoverished way. And that happens with our lives too: many times God has a profound and eternal understanding of everything we are going through, but we have a limited perspective. And that is why we sometimes suffer more than necessary, because we do not understand the glorious plans God has in mind.

Then it says here in verse 37—it says that some of those who were watching this scene said, “Could not this man?”—speaking of Jesus. And it is interesting that it says, “Could not this man?” Do you notice a slightly disparaging tone there? Instead of saying, “Could not the Lord?” These people are unbelieving; these people do not necessarily believe in Jesus. These people may be opposed to the Lord and are doubting His power. It says, “Could not this man who opened the eyes of the blind man?”

They knew about the miracle the Lord had previously performed with a blind man—perhaps even several blind men. It could have been Bartimaeus, for example, or the other blind man whom the Lord healed by putting saliva and mud on his eyes; the Lord healed several blind men. But they are speaking of a blind man whom they had seen healed by the Lord. And it says, “Could not He who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept Lazarus from dying?”

I do not know, but I see here what seems to be an accusatory tone filled with doubt, as though it were implying: Well, if this man were as powerful as He says He is, or as He appears to be, why did He not prevent this man from dying? Why did He allow it? Why did He not have enough power to heal him before he died?

Isn’t that something? When people do not believe, when they have not been touched by the power of the Holy Spirit, no matter how many miracles they see, no matter how many wonderful things they see, no matter how many demonstrations of God’s love, power, grace, and reality they see in their lives, it is as though a fog covers their understanding, and great miracles are not enough to awaken their faith and lead them to believe.

That is why we cannot fix our eyes solely on miracles; miracles are only a sign pointing to the Son of God. If people do not want to believe, they will not believe. Those who are stubborn, those whose hearts are hardened—no matter how many things God does to awaken them, if the door is closed, God will not break it down to make them believe. And despite seeing Christ’s great miracles, these stubborn people still say, “Ah, look, this is proof that He is not the Son of God. He did not have enough power to heal this man and keep him from dying.”

Because one sees this several times in this passage: unbelief—whether Thomas’s unbelief, Martha’s relative unbelief or imperfect faith—keeps them from seeing. The disciples cannot understand the statement that Lazarus is sleeping because they have not risen to the level of God’s power, of the faith Jesus Christ has, and of His full understanding. And in the same way, in our relative unbelief, we too are often unable to see the glory of God as God wants to reveal it. So I find that text curious.

And another interesting thing is that afterward, at the end of all this—just to isolate that particular element here—it says that when the Lord raises Lazarus from the dead, some believe in the Lord. Verse 45 says, “Then many of the Jews who had come to accompany Mary and saw what Jesus did”—raising Lazarus from the dead—“believed in Him.” But how interesting that the next verse, verse 46, says, “But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.”

That “but” tells me that there were two categories of people witnessing Jesus’ miracle. Some had hearts that were tender and open to the Lord, and when they saw Jesus’ miracle, they sincerely believed because their hearts were open, and the evidence the Lord provided touched them and moved them to believe in the Lord. Others had hardened, stubborn hearts opposed to the Lord, and instead of leading them to believe, that miracle drove them to go to the authorities and report Jesus instead.

How did they report Him? Because one wonders, what could they say against Him? Well, they were saying, “Look, a tremendous miracle has taken place there. If you do not hurry, this man will win over the entire Jewish people, so you must do something.” They were using this to accuse Him. Interestingly, for some this miracle was a reason for life, while for others that miracle was something that hastened the process leading to Jesus’ death and His condemnation at their hands.

The Pharisees decide to kill Jesus; these people go and report Him, becoming even more entrenched in their unbelief. If we are honest, miracles—the works of God—bless us; if we are stubborn, they curse us. For some, the Word of God is life; for others, the Word of God is condemnation because, by not believing, they are condemned. Wow.

I hope that you and I are among those who see the works of God as leading to life, not death. When God speaks to you, do not be unbelieving; when God tells you something, believe it and act upon it. Be tenderhearted. Ask the Lord to soften your heart, so that we may always be open to seeing what God wants to do in our lives and may be very, very receptive to the works and the Word of God. May God keep us from being stubborn people, because for stubborn people the Word of God becomes a goad that digs in and causes death and condemnation. But if we are tenderhearted, the Word of God passes through us and leaves a deposit of life. I want to be in that category.

May the Lord bless you, and let us invite the Holy Spirit to make us people of faith, teachable people, people whose hearts are tender toward the Word and the works of God. Until next time, Pastor Roberto Miranda bids you farewell. God bless you.