Lent Devotional - Day 21

Read John 11:1-37.

When we see Jesus move, you can tell that he is not moving on human time nor his own time, but the Father’s time. There is a sense of slowed down pace, a calmer pace, knowing that God is in control. When we put our lives in Jesus’ hands, we don’t need to be rushed, hurried, or frantic. We need to learn to be patient, and slow right down, and trust in his timing.

I love the fact that Jesus describes himself as the resurrection. We believe in Jesus, to whom everything has been given; all power, honour, and glory, and there is nothing that he cannot do and there nothing that is out of his reach. Eternal life is not something separate we get in following Jesus, but he is eternal life. It is a by-product of believing in Jesus.

In this passage, we see the heart of God being moved at human tragedy. We often think that because Jesus is God, he is somehow unfeeling and untouched by human emotions, but we have to appreciate that we feel emotions because God gave us emotions. If anyone understands and experiences true emotions, it’s Jesus.

Weeping and grieving is a necessary part of a healthy spiritual life. There are many times in life when the pressures of life are just too great for any one person to handle, then it is appropriate and even perhaps a requirement that we turn to God with tears.

God is close to the broken-hearted. It is a gift of God that in our deepest need he is closest to us. Don’t close up your heart and don’t harden your heart, but entrust all your fears, worries, anger, doubt, and shame to Jesus. It is more than okay that we don’t actually have it together and that we are not in control. This is why Jesus is Lord and we are not.

If you are carrying all of your burdens by yourself, Jesus invites you to laid them down at his feet. Let Jesus carry all your burdens for you. You are invited to weep and grieve at his feet. He loves you and he weeps and grieves with you.