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Stay

Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah.

Psalm 62:8
Stay Book Cover

Enneagram, StrengthsFinder, Myers-Briggs, DISC, or any other personality or motivational assessment will tell you we’re are all so very different. Not only are we different within, we have experiences that have shaped us, skills we have developed, and years of life that have taught us. Some of us are question askers, others of us are storytellers. Some of us dig for detail while others want the big picture of where we are going. Our uniqueness does not stop with our relationship with God. We bring it with us to Jesus as well.

Mary and Martha were different sisters—same family, very different women. And Jesus welcomed their uniqueness as they processed the death of their brother, their disappointment with Jesus, and what was to come.

They exclaimed the same truth to Jesus (John 11:21, 32) yet followed it with different actions. Martha shared words, questions, and dialogue. Mary brought her tears and fell down before Jesus. Jesus responded to these sisters exactly where they were.

jesus met them

Martha came with her words, thoughts, and questions. Jesus dialogued with Martha about theology, faith, and resurrection. Their interaction led Martha to make a statement of faith, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world” (John 11:27). Before the resurrection of Lazarus, Martha again had an opportunity to affirm her faith (John 11:39–40).

Mary came full-body, with tears. Her release of grief and confusion was both emotional and physical. Jesus met her with his own tears… Jesus met her with his own tears as well as his anger at death itself (John 11:35, 38). The release of his own tears, his anger, and his emotions led the surrounding community to exclaim, “See how he loved him!” (John 11:36).

staying with jesus

Throughout the story you can’t help but wonder, why didn’t Jesus just heal Lazarus? Why did he wait for both the women to express their disappointment? Why did he linger?

He previously indicated that this all was bigger than what was happening in the present. He talked about resurrection and life and belief and glory, but why not go ahead and show Martha his power right away, or dry Mary’s tears right away (John 11:4, 15, 42)? Why did he let them grieve? Why did he himself grieve?

Truly, the ways of God are a mystery, and this mystery does not always bring us comfort. Yet, the invitation we see in this story is that God is a God who enters our story and stays there. God is a God who is willing to hear our questions, to wrestle with us, to patiently care for us. God is a God who is willing to feel the depth of emotion, anger at death, and sadness at loss. He is a God who is with us. And this God invites us to stay with him in our disappointments, our questions, our tears, and whatever we uniquely bring.

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What the Women Saw

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Jesus Enables the Faithful

Daily Question

Seeing how Jesus stayed with the sisters, how does he want to stay with you? Is there an area of your life he has been quiet about, or unmoving?

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Comments (10)

In my life, I feel like God has been quiet and unmoving on which direction I should go in my career ,romantic life etc. Sometimes I hear a voice to put in the work that aligns with him, and avoid shortcuts of the enemy but somehow I am having trouble with discerning whether or not it is aligned with his calling or plan for me.

Jesus wants to stay with me when I invite Him in. He desires to be near me. He was ya to hold me when I feel unappreciated, when I need love and affection. He wants to be my comfort.

I am trusting Him with my daughter’s life. With the direction He will lead her.

I have seen lots of delay as I push forward to get a job. How does God want to stay with me? He wants me to trust Him wholeheartedly…but he’s ok with me asking him questions. Is it soon Lord? How do I spend my time while I wait?

This whole lesson today has just been like a refreshing rain. And I am soaking (with tears) in the promise that He is right here with me, holding my places of confusion, weariness, hurt, grief, and anxiousness. Hard to confess, healing to stay in His always holding-on. ♥️

Sometimes I ask myself what do I do next God, where am I going but reading this passage and knowing that Jesus stayed with the sisters gives me motivation and clarity to know that He is with me all the time!

he walks beside me all the time for God is good. The Lord has been moving in my life for some time it was me that hadn’t been reading studying or participating in fellowship. I love we can bring our uniqueness to him.
even when we show our actions differently

I think that God has a reason for not moving with the healing of my knee, but
He does give me the patience and strength to deal with it. I have totally surrendered it to him.

God allows me to have a forgiving heart. It doesn’t come easy though and my understanding of this has been very clouded during many difficult times. I’ve had to grieve the loss of 5 family & friends over the years to suicide and the pain never goes away. God pulled me out of the depths of my own depression and sadness during those difficult days of grief. Sometimes I do think I’m alone and nothing is moving in the direction I think it should but I have to remind myself God’s always at my side and He eventually reveals His way for me, it just takes time.

Sometimes I feel like he has been so quiet about the situation with our daughters Emily and Alyssa who have become estranged from our family. I know he is working but sometimes it feels like he is not, it has been several years and we have not had healing in this area. I trust that he is always with us working in every single area of our lives and his plan is always far greater than our plans. I trust him to reveal to us if there is anything further that we should be doing ourselves for our part.

This is one of those mysteries I am unable to understand. I have two daughters who are giving the entire family the silent treatment and do not allow us to see our beautiful grandchildren. Why is he allowing my children to hate me, and the entire family they grew up with? It have been five years now. Will my heart ever stop hurting?

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