Daily Devotional

A Ministry of the Kerwin Baptist Church

May 21, 2018

by Pastor Hawtree

I AM PERSUADED THAT HE IS ABLE:

TO BE RIGHT ON TIME (part 6)

It bothered Jesus that these people that He loved were hurting. It bothered Jesus that Lazarus was dead. It bothered Jesus that they were not trusting Him. It bothered Jesus that some of them felt betrayed. Then some of the Jews there said some hurtful things (as people normally do).

* John 11:36 Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him! 37 And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?

This was a sarcastic statement by these Jews, “Behold how he loved him”. In other words, they were saying that Jesus didn’t really love Lazarus or He would have been there before Lazarus died. They criticized that if Jesus did some miracles for others, why didn’t Jesus do this for Lazarus? This really bothered and hurt Jesus. And it would hurt you to. There will always be people that will say some ignorant things to you, but they are somehow convinced that they are justified in doing so. Trust me, it happens all the time. You never hear a positive comment about anything from some, but they are quick to correct or criticize you. It is just part of the territory. But it still hurts. That is what happens when you do things different than people think you should. They do not know your heart, your motives, or even the whole situation. Jesus was doing what was best for Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. And Jesus was doing what would glorify God the most. And yet the negative comments come. The Bible never says that Jesus ever said anything back to their criticism. He just went on.

May I encourage you today to consider making some commitments.
1. Determine that you will not be part of the “critical crowd”. Don’t be the person that discourages. Don’t be the person that only comments when they have something negative to say. Don’t be the person that makes themselves a self-appointed judge. You are not helping like you think you are. You are hurting.
2. Determine that you will not be part of the “controlling crowd”. Don’t be the person that expects everyone to have the same opinion that you do or wants things a certain way like you want them. Don’t expect everyone to do what you think they should. Realize that sometimes your opinions are wrong, even if you think you are right. Some people cannot stand it if they are not in control.
3. Determine to be part of the “committed crowd”. Determine to be the kind of person that just keeps serving God, even when the “critical crowd” speaks up. Just go on like Jesus did. Lazarus would still be in the grave if Jesus would have let all those comments control Him. Yes, it hurts, and yes, it is unfair, but you have a “life” to live, so don’t let them bring death.
4. Determine to be part of the “comforting crowd”. These kinds of things used to hurt me more than they do know. It still hurts, but It has happened enough now, that it just gives me the desire to not give them the satisfaction that it affected me. I am not going to let them control me. We have things to do, people to help, and there are plenty of people out there that appreciate it and do nothing but encourage. Thank God for the “comforting crowd”. Determine to be just that. Determine to be the one person that unexpectedly comes and compliments. It is hard to stay positive when you work with people, so be the person that brings positivity into a person’s life.