As human beings, we look at things in our lives based only on two realities: favorable and unfavorable; this event is good, this event is bad; this experience brought joy and this experience brought pain, etc.
In the Gospel today, the Pharisees and the Scribes wanted to kill Jesus. Why? He raised Lazarus from the dead to give God greater glory. However, because people were believing in Jesus, the Pharisees and the Scribes desired to kill Jesus because of envy, and they were successful. In the eyes of the world, this is a tragedy. Trust the expert who is God. He knows how to turn bad into good.
Hence, three things we remember:
- God is not asleep. He is very much alive. He is never asleep to those who call on Him night and day. Hence, we are all invited to prayer. He answers prayers according to what is best: Yes, if it is meant to be; No, because God has a better plan; Not yet, because He has a better time.
- God is in control. A testimony to this is that everything happens for a reason and a purpose. There are some pain/tragedies in our lives that are to our own doing and there are some pain/tragedies in our lives that are not to our doing. Either way, God knows all of these. And look at the wisdom of the Lord, he turned the death of Jesus to Resurrection.
- God is a God of second chances. “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” is the promise of the Lord. Sure we make mistakes and we fall into the lure of sin, but God is just so ready to bring us back. Think of the shepherd willing to leave the 99 sheep behind to find the lost one.
We continue to hold on to God especially those undergoing difficulty either because of his or her own doing or through no fault of yours. Since no one is exempted from the storms of life, because God knows how to turn bad into good, no one is exempted from God’s grace: He is not asleep; He is in control, and He is a God of second chances!
3 Ways 2 Your 1 God 