I wonder how many times I continued to beg God for something when I knew it was going to take a little work on my part to bring about change. Sure, I have experienced some water to wine, blind to vision miracles in my life but most of the time the miracles in my life have been “time delayed” because I needed to put forth some effort to see the results.
Lazarus is a great example of this. Jesus provided the power to raise Lazarus from death, but Lazarus still had to walk out. Tiny step by tiny step, bandaged, bruised and bewildered, he had to walk out of a tomb that had the smell of death. I'm sure it wasn't easy for him to shuffle out the way he did. I can relate a bit to Lazarus. Mary and I had to take some active steps to move from a hectic unhealthy path to a path of health in our own lives. We rearranged priorities and set some new ones, and one step at a time bandaged, bruised and bewildered, we had to walk out.
There were days, months, when I felt like these were impossible steps to take. Occasionally, I would loose my emotional and spiritual equilibrium and would end up facedown until someone helped me back up, loosened the bandages and encouraged me to keep moving. Please hear me when I say that God brings life from death, resurrection from ruin, but occasionally you must put in some work to walk out of the tomb that so desperately wants to keep you hostage.
Jesus brought Lazarus back from death, but Lazarus had to walk out one tiny step at a time. I don’t think it was easy waddling out of that tomb all bandaged up. Lazarus had to put in some work. And so will you.
Steps to Keep Moving
Step 1: Move forward an inch at a time, a day at a time, but keep moving forward.
Step 2: See Step 1
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