Less Is More

[Mary and Martha] sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.”

John 11:3

Lazarus was the only brother of two sisters, Mary and Martha. Jesus and his disciples were often guests in their home, and the three siblings knew Jesus as well as anyone knew him. They knew what they could expect from him because they knew his heart and his compassion and his power.

When the crisis hit and Lazarus fell fatally ill, the sisters knew from experience that all they had to do was take their need to Jesus. Do you see how very simple and unadorned their prayer is? “Your dear friend is very sick.” No flowery language, no cajoling or pleading, no instructions. They didn’t feel compelled to offer suggestions or remind Jesus of the answer to their problem. They knew it was enough to present their need to him.

I imagine they had learned by experience that any need—great or small—spoke for itself because of Jesus’ great compassion. They had learned that he was a living, breathing promise and that in him was the supply for every need. So when the emergency came out of nowhere and took them by surprise, they did what they were used to doing. They took their need to Jesus.

But Jesus did not act in accordance with their expectations of him. He did not hurry to Bethany to heal Lazarus before he died, as Mary and Martha had anticipated he would. He planned to do more than they could think or imagine. He was not content to leave Mary and Martha with what they knew of him so far. He was not interested in meeting their expectations, because he intended to exceed them. He did not act in a way that confirmed their faith but rather stretched their faith, and because he did, they saw his miraculous power over death.

All it took to experience the fullness of Jesus was to take their need to him.

Jesus, do in my life as you will, when you will, how you will.

It makes no matter where He places me, or how. That is rather for Him to consider than for me; for in the easiest positions He must give me His grace, and in the most difficult, His grace is sufficient.

(James) Hudson Taylor (1832–1905), English missionary to China