Snip Snip

The article was good, but it was this 1-9 list that really spoke right to me.
It came from the post "Our Silent, Slow God part 2" over at "Hungry and Thirsty"

There are so many ways in which the story of Lazarus feels familiar.

1. A personal crisis emerges, which - unknown to us - God lovingly intends to use for his glory and our greatest good.
2. We, like Mary & Martha, ask God for help; but he delays and our problems grow worse.
3. Finally, God arrives and invites us to trust him; but we, like Martha, have real trouble.
4. Sometimes we're like Mary - too angry or disappointed with God to even open up at first.
5. God keeps calling us to himself, like Jesus does with Mary, until finally we respond honestly and ventilate our frustration and pain to him.
6. He enters into our suffering and weeps with us.
7. Some take comfort in his empathetic presence. Others blame him for not intervening.
8. In his time, he meets our deepest needs in unimaginable ways.
9. The result is glory for God and amazing new life for us and others... two sides of the same coin. In hindsight, we hope to never go through that sort of thing again, but wouldn't trade what we've gained for the ease of avoiding it.