September 15

Unbelieving “Ifs”

Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. — John 11:21 BSB

Would Lazarus have lived if Jesus had been there? We read that Jesus, knowing Lazarus was sick, stayed where He was for two more days. He even said that He was glad He had not been there before Lazarus died. This tells us that it was better for Lazarus to die and for Christ’s power to be shown in his resurrection than for him to be healed before death. So, when Martha said, “If you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died,” it was an unbelieving and groundless “if.”

We often let similar “ifs” slip from our own lips when troubles come. We say, “If only we had called a different doctor,” or “If only we had done something sooner, our loved one wouldn’t have died.” We sometimes feel that our sorrow is evidence that God didn’t hear our prayers. But just as with Lazarus, Christ’s way is always the better way, even when we don’t understand it at first.

We watched with breaking hearts
Life balanced on a breath;
We saw the shadow dark
Of what we knew was death.
And mourning, we cried out:
"Lord, if You had been near,
Our loved one would have lived—
He wouldn’t have died here.”

But when we look ahead
And see what grace has done,
How battles have been won,
And glory has begun—
Faith lifts our tear-stained eyes
And whispers with a sigh:
“Lord, in Your love and care,
Our loved one did not die.”