Why Does God Let Us Suffer? with Vaneetha Risner - SUMMER REPLAY

Yeah, I've certainly found in my own life that in periods of need is when my prayer life is actually like really come alive in a different way.

You know, when you're like, okay, Lord, I actually, I just sort of viscerally need you right now is a very different approach than I'm like sitting down to pray this morning because that's what I need to do.

And what, you know, it's more this sort of desperation to it.

I think maybe for me, the...

The passage that I always come back to is in John 11 when Jesus is standing in front of Martha, who's grieving her brother Lazarus's death.

And Jesus deliberately didn't come.

Like when Martha and Mary called out to Jesus, like sent a message saying, Lord, the one you love is sick.

It's sort of bizarre almost.

But John's gospel says that Jesus loved Mary and Martha and Lazarus.

And so he doesn't come.

And you're like, well, that... seems to make no sense like why either he loves them and he he came or he doesn't love them and he didn't come but no it says very clearly that he he loved them and he didn't come and then he shows up when it's too late lazarus is already dead and meets with martha and says to her i am the resurrection and the life anyone who believes in me even though he dies will live whoever lives and believes in me will never die do you believe this and i and i sometimes sort of imagine myself kind of standing where Martha stands in that story and hearing Jesus saying I am everything like do you believe that you think that what you most need is me to raise Lazarus actually what you most need is is me you think I'm a means to an end actually I'm the end and just kind of viscerally like finding myself in those moments of needing needing the Lord and needing to be almost confronted with that choice in my own mind like do I believe do I believe that And actually, if I don't, my life is completely pointless anyway.

It's not that we choose between a life in relationship with Jesus and a life where our lives have no suffering and are full of purpose and meaning and joy and eternal perspective.

It's actually we choose between faith in this extraordinary wild outrageous claim that Jesus is the resurrection and the life and a world in which you and I are nothing but atoms and molecules like ultimately you know mammals at best but who cares and we're we have delusions of our own existence even of our own kind of real kind of mental lives so it's always interesting to hear different people's kind of go-to places in the Bible, the places where we most kind of cling most often.

I love

that passage that you love as well.

And I love the other thing that Jesus says to Martha is, if you believe, you will see the glory of God.

And that's right before he raises Lazarus.

And I love that.

Or maybe it's right after, actually.

I love that because when we believe, we see

God.

We see, you know, we experience his presence.

And I feel like the glory of God is knowing God is there.

And I think that's a big part, too, of what he did when he raised Lazarus is I am the resurrection and the life.

You need me.