The Should & Should Not

"A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair. Her brother, Lazarus, was sick. So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, 'Lord, your dear friend is very sick.'

But when Jesus heard about it he said, 'Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.' So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, he stayed where he was for the next two days. Finally, he said to his disciples, 'Let’s go back to Judea.'

Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.”” John 11:1-7, 21-22 NLT

We as humans, tend to have our own preconceived ideas of what a person should and should not do. Sometimes those preconceived ideas are Lord implanted and sometimes they are ours.

When we put these preconceived ideas on people, they can tend to let us down. Disappoint us. Why? Because they don't care? No. It's because we think that pastors, friends or family members should do certain things and when they don't, we're upset at them.

That is what this passage said to me. Mary, Martha and Lazarus were very close. When Lazarus got sick, the sisters sent word to Jesus. Come, because if you come, we know Lazarus will not die--that you will heal him. And they expected Him to come right away. Because why wouldn't He? He's like a brother to them.

Is that what happened? No, Jesus didn't drop everything and go catch the first camel or donkey to Bethany. He waited two days. His heavenly Father had told Him to do something else. And this something else would bring more glory to the Kingdom than the expected response.

Because of Jesus following His Father's command, did that mean that He didn't support or love Mary, Martha and Lazarus? No. It says that He loved them dearly. Did it mean that from now on, they could not trust Jesus with their friendship? No. Sure, they could be disappointed with Jesus, but they knew that they could still trust Him. Martha said that if only Jesus had come when they had ask Him to, her brother would not have died. But she knew that even now, whatever the Lord wanted--it would be done. She still had her faith.

Please, don't put your preconceived should & should not ideas on other people. It's not your job--only your heavenly Father's. People are people. The only human that was perfect was Jesus Christ. Allow room in your thinking that if someone doesn't necessarily do what you think they should, if they are God followers, maybe they are doing what the Lord may be telling them.

And truly, isn't that the better choice?