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The Long Road: God Has Something Better · The God Who Sees You Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: So for every time I've shaken my fist at God and said, Where were you when this happened?
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: This is the answer I get every time.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: He was right there.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, friend, and welcome back to the podcast.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: We are going through this series called The Long Road.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: And today we're going to talk about just how this long road is not always what we want, but God has something better.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I had this whole, I think I mentioned it kind of when we started this series.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: I had this health issue come up, a lot of different issues actually.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: No solutions really.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: I was struggling.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: I was feeling horrible, like just not myself.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: And had so many symptoms that I go get my blood work done at the doctors, and they would say, Nothing's really wrong with you.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: You look healthy, but I knew deep inside that I felt terrible.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: And this went on for a while, and I struggled for a while.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I just remember on this long road with the Lord because I would plead for healing.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: I would say, Lord, I know you can heal me.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: Can you just do it?
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: Can you come in and just show your glory and heal me right now?
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: I'll tell everyone about how you did this for me, right?
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: But oftentimes the answer was no, not right now, not yet.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'm still working in you, I'm still doing things.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: And and one answer that I got along the way was, I want you to be obedient in this process as I heal you, as I work in your body and in your health, I want you to be obedient.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: And that was hard to hear, right?
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: Because I was like, Lord, what do I do?
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to do everything right.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm doing XYZ to take care of my health.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: But it was actually this intentional sitting down with him and praying and saying, Lord, do you want me to go to this doctor?
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want me to take this vitamin or supplement?
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: Do I need to back down on running and working out?
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: That was a big thing.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: He said, you need to stop forcing yourself to work out so hard all the time because you're putting yourself in this stress position.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: And there were so many moments where God didn't give me the quick answer and he said, No, actually, I want you to sit with me and I want to talk about what will help you.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I want you to take one obedient step at a time.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: And that was hard, right?
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: That was hard to do those steps.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes I would resist or I would forget or I would be too overwhelmed to do all the steps.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: But he never overwhelmed me.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: I it was more I was overwhelming myself.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: But in the process, he wanted to grow closer to me and he wanted my full heart and my full obedience.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: So this is our big idea for the day.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: God doesn't always give us what we want because he has something better.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I saw this concept really in the story of Lazarus.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I know this is such a famous story, you probably heard it before, but it's it's this story where we see that Lazarus, Jesus' friend, he becomes very sick, right?
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: And he actually dies and he passes away.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: And everyone sends word to Jesus that Lazarus has died, and they're saying, you know, come quickly, come quickly.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: And this is Jesus' response in John 11, 4 through 7.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: When he heard this, Jesus said, This sickness will not end in death.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: No, it is for God's glory, so that God's Son may be glorified through it.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Now Jesus loved Martha and his sister, her sister and Lazarus.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: And then he said to his disciples, let us go back to Judea.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus waited two full days to go and see Lazarus.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: He didn't take the longer road per se, but he took his time, right?
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: He took his time getting to them.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: And can I be honest with you?
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: I I think if I were Mary or Martha, this would have hurt really deeply.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: This would have hurt so deeply that Jesus didn't come right away.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: I think I would have felt betrayed by Jesus because where he, they're asking, where were you, right?
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: Where you could have raised him from the dead, you could have done this, it could have been different if you were here.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: So we can see that the hurt is running deep inside them.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: And honestly, I think I would have felt the same way too.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: But this is also where the famous verse in the Bible comes from in John 11, 35, where it says, Jesus wept.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: I tend to believe that he wept out of compassion, but also just out of pure anger for death and the enemy and what was happening here, what the enemy was trying to steal, and how Jesus really did have the power over death, but this chaos and heartache was happening among his friends.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: But also, I wonder if this question, where were you, also made him weep.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Because we ask him this question all the time, don't we?
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: We know he is always there, but we also feel like sometimes he left us to deal with things all alone.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: Throughout Scripture, we receive this promise over and over again.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: And let me read it to you, just one example of it in Deuteronomy 31, 8, where it says, the Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: He will never leave you or forsake you.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: So for every time I have shaken my fist at God and said, Where were you when this happened?
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: This is the answer I get every time.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: He was right there.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: He was weeping alongside us.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: He was weeping like he wept with Mary and Martha.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: I've never left you.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: I've never forsaken you.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: God has something better to do in this story than to leave it here.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: He was going to reveal himself and reveal Jesus' power over death itself.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: And we know the story, right?
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: There's this amazing moment where Jesus calls out at the tomb, Lazarus, come forth.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: And he comes out with grave wrappings all around him.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: But the whole purpose of this was not to bring pain into Mary and Martha's life.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: There was a greater purpose here.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: It was to demonstrate God's power.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: It says that this day, that this day that this happened, many people believed because of what they had seen.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: God doesn't always give us what we want because He's got something better.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're thinking, you know, Erica, I've watched what came out of this in my life and there isn't something better.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: Here's something that we need to cling to in the middle of all this.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: That something better may not be revealed to us until eternity.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: We might not and probably won't fully understand everything until heaven.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: I think sometimes God gives us just beautiful glimpses of this eternal perspective, but sometimes we have to wait until heaven to truly see the impact.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: So sometimes the long road does take us all the way into eternity.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: Let me pray for us today, friends.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: Lord God, thank you for just this story of Lazarus.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: I see so much of myself in it.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: I see the times where I pray desperately.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: Where are you, God?
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: Why weren't you here when this happened?
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: You know, what's going on?
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: Why weren't you saving me in this moment or doing this thing?
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: And Lord, I know we have expectations around things.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: But Lord, right now I just want to lay all of that down at your feet and just to ask you to come in and to change our hearts.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: To help us to trust you as we don't see things happen in front of us that we prayed for or things answered the way we wanted them answered.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, help us to trust that you have something better, like you did with Lazarus.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, help us to trust that you will come in and redeem and restore.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes we might not see the full redemption until eternity, but we can trust you.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: We can trust your answer to our prayers.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Jesus.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: Friends, if you want to go a little deeper in this study, I created a Bible study you can do on your own called The Long Road.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: And that's going to ask you questions to really probate the things in your heart and to develop your personal relationship with the Lord.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for joining me today.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: I'll see you next time.