raising the dead

"Lord, I thank You that You have heard Me."  ~ Jesus (John 11:41)

Right now I'm rereading Ann Voskamp's book A Thousand Gifts.  With the events of the past year, a lot of her insights, and even Scripture itself, have taken on more significant meaning this second time around.

Take the resurrection of Lazarus (John 11).  One of the main points Voskamp makes in her book is that every miracle Jesus performed was preceded by giving thanks.  Raising Lazarus from the dead was no exception.  Lazarus' death seemed unfair to his sisters; Mary herself had anointed Jesus in a previous chapter, and Martha served Him with her whole heart.  This fact reminds me that even when we sacrifice and follow God's will, calamity can still occur.

Jesus also told the sisters that God would be glorified through Lazarus' illness and death and that others would believe in Him because of it (see verses 4 and 14-15).  Shouldn't this be the purpose of all troubles that come our way?  To glorify the One who holds us during the storm?  I've learned that it's okay to grieve when things don't go as planned; even Jesus wept for his friend Lazarus despite knowing that He could and WOULD raise him from the dead (verse 36).  What really matters is our trust in Him, not whether we understand why disaster strikes.

Finally, Jesus gave thanks to God before calling Lazarus to come forth (verse 41).  I find it interesting that He waited to raise Lazarus up until after others removed the stone from the tomb.  Even when every obstacle is removed from our path to finding Him, we still need to give thanks in order to see a miracle.

Here's what I take home from all this....thanksgiving can raise the dead.  Not just the physically dead (because I do believe God still performs these miracles even today), but the spiritually dead and the emotionally dead.  I felt more than a little shell-shocked after my miscarriages this past year; I literally felt like part me died along with the children I lost.  But I found when I forced myself to find something to give thanks for, I felt a little more alive each time.  And soon the thanksgiving didn't feel quite as forced, but more like a natural response to His goodness that I found everywhere once I started looking for it.  I starting making lists just like Voskamp does in her book:

1) cloudy afternoons under a blanket
2) Caleb laughing
3) getting goosebumps during worship
4) waking up next to Randall
5) Caleb's face when he discovers a new book

I'm nowhere near a thousand yet, but giving thanks even in the seemingly mundane has helped me tremendously.  I can still grieve what I've lost just as Jesus the God-Man did.  But I can also help raise what remains by giving thanks for it all.