Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
John 11:43 NIV
Lazarus was dead.
His body wrapped tightly in grave clothes and laid to rest.
The world had already moved on and the story of Lazarus was over.
But his story was not over for God.
Lazarus was dead and Jesus told them to open the tomb anyway.
Lazarus was gone and Jesus called his name anyway.
Then Lazarus walked out alive.
You may think that your story has already been written.
That it is over.
That where you are right now is where you will always be.
That your usefulness, your marriage, your ministry, your job, your purpose, your hopes lay dead and lifeless at your feet.
Jesus defied death.
“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15: 55 -57 NIV)
If you are breathing, God is not done with you.
You may think your story is over but God doesn’t.
He calls life from death and unbinds the grave clothes that cling.
He calls your name, reminds you who you are and whose you are.
He changes the ending of your story.
He will resurrect relationships, restore callings, redefine life as you know it and move you from darkness into the light.
The story of Lazarus is more than an example of a miracle, it is a proclamation of the power of Jesus to raise the dead things in us and a reminder to us today that all death means nothing in the light of His love.
He defeated death itself and because of Jesus, you have nothing to fear here or when your time on earth is done.
When fear rises up to tell you that your story is over, know that in Christ your story has only just begun.
Just when you think it’s over, it’s absolutely not.
