The Sweetest Word Award

As we return to our study of John 11, we can recall that Martha and Mary were in the midst of a crisis. Their brother, Lazarus, had become seriously ill, and the two dear sisters wisely sent for Jesus.  In “The Most Puzzling Award” segment, we discussed His purpose for delaying his journey to Bethany to meet this need.  In this segment, Jesus finally arrives in Bethany—too late--Lazarus had already died.  

The initial response of these two sisters held true to form to what was discussed in our Luke 10 study. Martha was stressed and overwhelmed. She took action and went straight to Jesus. Mary stayed still. The question now arises. Did Martha learn anything from her previous encounter with her Lord?  With the use of one little word, we see that truly, she had! Let’s look at the events of John 11:20-22.

Martha ran to Jesus and poured out her heart and poured out her grief. She cried, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died!”  However, I don’t sense the anger that she had demonstrated in Luke 10. Instead, I sense her heart-felt grief. Pain filled her heart and she was crying out to her Lord. Just like in John 11:3, she went straight to Jesus. As discussed earlier, there is no better place to go in such a time of need. 

There is nothing wrong with crying out to the Lord in grief. There is nothing wrong with expressing the confusion of “Lord, I don’t get it!” or “Why is this happening?” or “Lord, how can this be good?” Remember, pain and confusion of “Your Life is a Tapestry”? That is why God gave us verses such as Romans 8:26-27. Sometimes, we just don’t know how to respond. What is important, however, is that we conclude those heart wrenching prayers as Martha did~~with one more word-one more little word!

As a side note here, I recall a terrible incident that took place in the Dallas area back in the late 80s. A group of teens returning from summer youth camp was drowned in a flash flood accident. My heart was broken (as my husband was away at a different youth camp at the time).  I followed the details closely on the news for the next few days. One sad thing I will never forget. While the pastor had left for the scene, some grief counselors, I guess from the city, were sent to the church to deal with the families and friends that had gathered. I will never forget one of those counselors telling the people “It is OK to get mad at God. It is OK to shake your fist at Him in anger…” That is NOT what I am saying! This type of response does not lead to that one more word!

The Switch-a-roo Award that I presented to Martha in the John 11 Awards segment can be seen in Martha’s use of that one small word that she didn’t use in Luke 10! It is one very small word that I have dubbed “The Sweetest Word”.  It only has three letters. It is used as a conjunction that connects two thoughts in antithesis in an effort to create an opposing thought. Scripture uses the word hundreds, if not thousands, of times to demonstrate the "oppositeness" of God’s ways and man’s ways. For example, ‘man does such and such, but God…’ or, ‘God says such and such, but man…”, or, as it is used in in this John passage, "Lord, 'I don't get it', but..."  That one, most important, extra word~~BUT! 

In the midst of her grief and sadness-in the midst of her crisis, Martha said that one word of surrender, “BUT”. With that one little word she expressed confidence in Jesus’ decision to wait. She expressed her confidence in His plan and purpose for her life. 

Instead of the anger and accusations she fired out in Luke 10, she is now calling out in surrender, “Lord, I don’t get it, BUT, I know…”  We will pick up with the continuation of this thought next time!

How sweet that one little word must have sounded to Jesus! How sweet that one little word must be to God when He hears it from us used in that way. It is a word of surrender and trust!

Psalm 19:14

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.

Let one of those words be the word ‘BUT.’