OUR FATHER WHO ALLOWS SOME SITUATIONS TO OCCUR SO THAT WE CAN GROW IN FAITH

John chapter 11 verse 14 - 15 says this;

So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

The Lord Jesus, speaking to his disciples while on the east side of the Jordan river, informed them that his friend and their friend Lazarus, from the village of Bethany near Jerusalem, was dead. To this statement He added that for their sake, He was glad that He was not there so that they would believe.

If Jesus had been at Lazarus' side before he died, Jesus would have healed him and prevented his death and thus His disciples would have missed an opportunity to see a man raised from the dead and to understand that Jesus was Himself the ressurection and the life.

As Jesus said to Martha in John 11 verse 25,  “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;

Jesus wanted His disciples to witness the raising of a man from the dead so that their faith would grow and so He held back from going to Bethany so that Lazarus would be certainly dead by the time they arrived.

Famously, when Jesus arrived at the tomb, He called Lazarus by name and commanded him to come forth out of the grave. Lazarus, wrapped in linen grave clothes, came out.

Many people who were there and witnessed the raising of Lazarus from the dead were astonished and believed in Jesus. 

When the religious authorities of the time heard of this event, they realised that the Lord Jesus was eclipsing their religious position and from that time on, began plotting to kill Him.

Amen.