Living for the impossible is the hallmark of true Christian living. Sometimes out of fear, some Christians would prefer living in the known and familiar setting. But God is calling us to believe and to push the boundaries of probability and watch as breakthrough happens. Breakthrough is to be our “normal.”
But living this way can be occasionally hard because it’s possible that no matter how much we try to live for breakthrough, it doesn’t happen. There can be many reasons why there seemed to be bottlenecks to breakthroughs and miracles. One of the most common we find is in the story about one of the greatest miracles Jesus performed: the resurrection of Lazarus.
After Jesus had faced the reality of Lazarus’ death and his friends and family’s grief, this is what John 11:38-39 has to tell us: “Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, ‘Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.”
The Scripture tells us that Jesus was “deeply moved” (verse 38) over and over again upon seeing the grief of the sisters and the people who knew Lazarus. If you’re going through some level of difficulty, pain or hardship know that Jesus is moved into compassion by your situation.
Jesus is never the bottleneck to our breakthrough. He is more than willing to bring us to our breakthrough. It’s in Him to be compassionate because He loves us so dearly, and because of that He looks forward to bringing breakthrough.
Upon Jesus’ command to move the stone in verse 39 Martha says, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.”
This has and always will be the one bottleneck to seeing breakthrough happen. It wasn’t the tombstone, not Jesus, not the situation, not Lazarus, not the people that was stopping the miracle of resurrection from happening, but Martha’s excuses.
It’s ironic that although Martha was one of those who dearly anticipated a breakthrough most, it was her that doubted most. Sometimes we find ourselves in the same situation as Martha: Jesus commands the “tombstones” of our dead hopes, dreams or situations to be moved, but then we start doubting.
• “Lord, by this time my debtors must already be planning to take away my house.”
• “Lord, by this time my marriage must already be beyond saving.”
• “Lord, by this time my church must be at a point of no return.”
Jesus wants to move, but we aren’t willing to move our tombstones—our attitudes, our finances, our own comforts or our relationships.
What is God asking you to move today? Are you making excuses? It’s time you stop being the bottleneck of breakthrough and act in obedience by moving those tombstones. When you do that, breakthrough will start to come into your life on a regular basis.
