Remember the story in John 11 when Jesus goes to the home of Martha in Bethany after her brother, Lazarus, had died? The NIV says Jesus was deeply "troubled" -- at seeing His friends' sadness, and then again at the tomb. Wait a minute --- at the tomb --- He's troubled? About what? I mean, He's going to raise Lazarus from the dead. Why is He troubled?
The NLT uses the word "angry" rather than troubled...and that's even more troubling!! What's He angry about? Who is He angry at?
I think Jesus might have just been angry at Satan and death. And today I understand that. I get angry at how Satan messes with people I care about:
---a friend who divorced because of her own selfishness and because she got real mixed up in her head about a lot of things
---friends who are struggling to be free from the chains they've experienced through trauma, alcohol, drugs, sexual addiction
---children who are thrown away by their parents, abused, neglected and fending for themselves
Hope comes to me from only 1 source: His Word --- The beloved John wrote these words: "...Greater is He that is in me, than He that is in the world."
What's TROUBLING you about life and the world today?
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