Camilo Buchanan - I’m Going Through It

Can you make some noise for Jesus in this place one time? You can do better than that Sunday night. Can you make some noise for Jesus in this place? Sunday night service. Worship has been going all day long all over the world. And we're over here on the east coast of the United States. Worship started off in Australia today. Made its way over through Asia, across Africa, through Europe. Landed here this morning. Y'all slept in. So can we give God a hand clap of praise as we close out this Sunday in the house of God? Come on, come on. Grab a seat, grab a seat. So honored, so excited, so thankful to be in the house. I love Church by the Glades. This is my family. I've been around for the past six years. Like Pastor Charlie said, my name is Camilo Buchanan. Live in Atlanta. But every time I get a chance to come down to sunny South Florida, I make a trip down here. I absolutely love, love, love this place. Y'all people are family to me. Pastor Nick, who was up here earlier, him and Stacy, those are my Cuban Mexican cousins. Charlie is my white little brother. I'm trying to get Pastor David and Lisa to adopt me. I just love this place. It really is family. Y'all have supported me in so many different ways. If you serve in any way in this house, can you just lift a hand real quick so we can acknowledge you? Can we just make some noise for these people?

These servant leaders who make Church by the Glades what it is. All under the vision, the leadership, the direction of Pastor David and Lisa. And just, you know, Eugene Peterson talks about a long obedience in the same direction. And that's what I think about when I think about Pastor David. There's this trend on Instagram right now where people are posting pictures from 10 years ago, from 2016. And I think you could go back to 2016 and you'd still find Pastor David faithfully preaching the Word of God. You could go back a decade before that to 2006 and still find Pastor David faithfully preaching the Word of God. You could go back a decade before that and still find Pastor David preaching the Word of God. And so, let's just honor Pastor David real quick for his faithfulness and the gift that he is. If you have a copy of Scripture, we're in John chapter 11 tonight. John chapter 11, fourth book of the New Testament as we continue in our series, I Need a Miracle. And I hope when you got up this morning, you looked in the mirror and you saw and recognized the miracle that was staring back at you because you're a miracle. If we can be honest, some of you, you shouldn't have made it through 2025, but you're still here. You are a miracle, you yourself, that you're still here. Maybe you made it and you made it into 2026, maybe not where you thought you'd be. Maybe not with what you thought you'd have. Maybe not with who you thought you'd be with, but you're still here. You are a miracle. And even as I say it, there was kind of some scattered applause because if we're honest, some of us don't know what to do with that. Because our plan wasn't really to just simply survive 2025. We expected to thrive in 2025. We wanted to flourish in 2025. And as we enter into 2026, that's honestly not where a lot of us find ourselves. And if we can be honest in the house of God tonight, we're frustrated. We're frustrated because we expected something different. That's always where frustration stems from. Frustration is a result of missed expectation. I expected more. I expected different. And yet, this is where I am.

And yet, it's a new year, but I'm in the same place. And I expected things to look different. I'm talking about weighty expectation. Not just talking about, like, how we all expect Miami to win tomorrow night. And we do. We do fully expect that the U is going to do what it does, okay? Like, that's where my dad went to school back in the 90s. That is what we are praying and believing for. But I'm talking about something more weighty than that. Not just you expected to win the lotto. Not just you expected 2025 you were going to get in shape when the last time you were in the gym was MLK weekend 2025. Like, I'm talking about weighty expectation. Like, you expected peace. And it never came. You expected provision. And it was nowhere to be found. You expected healing. And it never showed up. What do you do when God lets you down? What do you do when you expected God to move? You expected God to step in. You expected God to save. And yet, you can't find him. That's what I want to explore tonight out of John chapter 11. And if you're taking notes tonight, which I encourage you to take notes because you can't do what God told you if you don't remember what God told you. The title of our time together is this. I'm going through it. I'm going through it. Say that to somebody next to you. Just let them know.

Say, I'm going through it, if I can be honest. Going through it. Pray with me one more time and we'll jump in. Father, thank you for today. Thank you for who you are. Thank you for the power of your word. Thank you that you're moving in this place. Everything that Cas was leading us in. Everything that worship was taking us through. You're putting together a thread. of trying to get us to trust you more. Let that be a result of our time together tonight. That as we see you for who you are, that as we see you as a savior and we see you save, as we see you heal, as we see you deliver, as we see you set people free, as we see you as the king of kings and the Lord of lords, it would result in us trusting you more. Stand with me and strengthen me that I might preach this message fully, boldly. How you've given it to me, you know how weak I am. You know my frailty, God, I need you. Holy Spirit, I need you right now. I'm standing on your word and walking with your spirit. Do what only you can do. Speak to us now. Holy Spirit, move. In Jesus' name I pray. Everybody said. Amen.

Amen. Mary and Martha and Lazarus are going through it in John chapter 11. They're wondering, is Jesus going to rise to meet our expectations? If you don't know the story, it's one of the most popular stories in Christianity. I'm gonna summarize it for you and then we'll dissect it together. I kind of have a Bible study tonight, but you have Mary, Martha and Lazarus. They have a relationship with Jesus. Lazarus is in a crisis, an emergency situation. He is on his deathbed. So Mary and Martha send word to Jesus that he is sick. Jesus is delayed in getting to them and he does not show up until four days after Lazarus has already died. Not a problem because we serve the savior of the world. And so he walks in and says, hey Lazarus, come out of the tomb. Lazarus comes back to life. It's amazing. It's a miracle, hallelujah. Let's look at it. John chapter 11, starting in verse one. Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister, Martha. It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped his feet with her hair,

whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore the sister sent to him saying, Lord behold, he whom you love is sick. Let's pause the reading of scripture there for a moment just so we can establish some of the characters. So we have Lazarus. That we get his name is indicating to us that he is important in society. Not that he's more important to God than anyone else, but in society, the biblical authors wouldn't write down your name if nobody knew you. They would just say the woman with the issue of blood or the man with the withered hand, but that we get his name is letting us know that people know who Lazarus is. And then you have his sister, Mary. Now Mary is the one who wipes Jesus' feet with her tears and pours out the oil and she's drying it with her hair. She's very emotional. She's very dramatic. Ooh, Jesus. Like that's what every time she's around him, she's expressive. That's Mary. And then you have her sister, Martha. Martha's more type A, if we can put it that way, right? Like Martha, when Mary's there, Jesus over and Jesus telling stories and Mary's just sitting at his feet. Ooh, Jesus, tell her the parable, Jesus.

And Martha over here, like she's cleaning. She's cooking. She's like, Jesus, you gonna tell her to help me? Like that's who Martha is. She's bold. She's direct. She's serious. Mary, ah, Jesus. And then Lazarus, he dies. And so that's the family dynamic that you have, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. And it says, therefore. So based on their relationship, they send a prayer to Jesus and the prayer is this. Behold, he whom you love is sick. Great prayer, by the way. The prayer isn't, hey, I love you and I'm sick. Because if I'm honest, sometimes my love can be inconsistent. So they don't base it on their love. They say, Lord, the one whom you love is sick. Jesus, the one whom you love is sick. Let's do it for us. Jesus, the dream you gave me is sick. Jesus, this family you entrusted me with is sick. Jesus, this business you gave me to steward is sick. Jesus, my bank account right now is sick. Jesus, you promised me a sound mind, but I can't get rid of these anxious thoughts. It's sick.

And upon letting Jesus know he whom you love is sick, we expect Jesus to go. Why? Because that's what Jesus does. Like this is three years into Jesus' public ministry. I've seen you do miracles before. I've seen you turn water into wine. I've seen you heal the sick. I've seen you feed the masses. I've even seen you raise the dead before. To what you did for Jairus, his little 12 year old girl had died, but Jesus showed up and he tells this little girl, little girl, I said, you arise. And she comes back from the dead. I saw you do it with that widow. She was in name and they were making their way to the graveyard, but Jesus showed up and interrupted the funeral procession, said, young man, come out and raises him from the dead. And so my expectation, the precedent that has been said is that when I am in need, Jesus will show up. But what we understand here is the precedent of Jesus showing up is not based on what you think will happen. It's based on his providence. That he doesn't show up based on precedent. No, he shows up based on providence. And sometimes the miracle you're asking God.

or isn't the miracle he's interested in giving you. This is what it says, John 11, verse four. They say, he whom you love is sick. So when Jesus heard that, he said, well, this sickness is not unto death. Hallelujah, praise God. But for the glory of God, hallelujah, praise God, that the son of God may be glorified through it. Hallelujah, praise God. Now, Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Hallelujah, praise God. So when he heard, thank you that you hear me, that he was sick, he, mm. Now, hold on, this might be my translation, okay. The sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the son of God may be glorified through it. He loves Mary, Martha, Lazarus. He heard them, and so he, y'all translation say he stayed? He stayed two more days in the place where he was. Wow. He loves them, but he's not acting like how I thought he would act if he loves them. He loves them, but he's not in a hurry. He loves them, but he's kind of letting them down. He loves them, but he's running late. And sometimes when you need a miracle

and you're looking at the timeline, you need things to resolve by, and you can't see God helping you, it's hard to believe God loves you. God, it's hard for me to believe you see me when I can't sense you. Now, we know the story, but they don't know the story. We know that in a moment, Jesus is gonna give them more than the miracle they're asking for, but he's not going to give it to them on the timeline that they think they need it. He is late. And as I read that, I'll be honest, it kind of blesses me a little bit because I'm Jamaican, okay. I'm a Jamaican man. Wagwan. Wagwan. I'm Jamaican, and so when I read that God is late, it tells me that I really am made in the image of God. Because Jamaicans, we're beautiful people. We're just not the most punctual of people, okay. We have this phrase in Jamaica, two words, here it is. Soon come, okay. What soon come means, it means coming soon. Jamaicans talk backwards. Soon come, it means I'm guaranteed to be there. Just don't know when I'm gonna get there, okay. Soon come could mean five minutes from now,

I'm gonna be there, soon come, soon come. But soon come could also mean five hours from now, I'm gonna be there. But we're not gonna lie on a Sunday. Soon come could mean five days from now, I'm gonna be there. If we're really honest, soon come could, yeah, man, I'll get you your money, soon come. That could mean five months from now. I'm gonna pay you back, soon come. It's a measurement of time without a definition, okay. I'm coming, we gonna find out when together, okay. It's gonna be a surprise to both of us, soon come. Now, I live in America and so I'm trying to do everything on time here. And so when we're getting to know each other, I try my best to be on time, you know what I mean? I'll probably only be like five, six, 30 minutes late. Like, you know, I wanna honor you, wanna respect your time, and so that's what I'll do. But once we really get to know each other, like me and Charlie, we've traveled the world together, we've gone all over the place. Like, now that we know each other, you know, I know that I can trust Charlie with my lateness. Like, my lateness isn't gonna affect our relationship. He knows that I'm good for it, I'm coming eventually. You know what I mean, like, soon come. What Jesus shows us here is the depth of relationship he does have for Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, that he loves them enough to be late.

He trusts them with his tardiness. What if in 2026, when your back was against the wall, when you really needed a miracle, you started to find assurance of God's love for you in his pace? Last year, I really needed a miracle, I really needed some things to shift, and I didn't see him show up. And so I started to think his pace was part of the problem. And then I started to think, maybe it's my fault, maybe his pace is part of a punishment. And sometimes, yeah, God does delay some things sometimes. But what I actually think is happening is now I think as I read John 11, that his pace isn't part of the problem, his pace is part of the promise. What's the promise? That nothing you go through is wasted because he's using it all for his glory and your good. I got Bible, Romans 8, 28, and we know, not we hope, not it would be really cool if, and we know that all things work together, not some things, all things work together for good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose. To his glory. I hope the miracle you're believing for I really do hope God does it soon But I'm not gonna keep letting the enemy convince me in 2026 that because I didn't get the miracle when I thought I needed the miracle It means that God either does not love me or he doesn't know what's going on with me. No, it just means he trusts me He trusts me enough to be late. That's Joe. He trusts me with the suffering

Asked on the Baptist. He trusts me with this jail. So as Jesus he trusts me with this cross He trusted Martha. He trusted Mary. He trusted Lazarus and look at their response John chapter 11 jump down to verse 14 Of John 11 here. Here's what happens. Jesus says to the disciples after they bring him this report Lazarus is dead and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there Why would that make you glad Jesus so that you may believe? Nevertheless, let us go to him That's confusing. I Thought I would believe in you as a result of me getting the miracle that I asked you for Jesus says no You're gonna believe in me not as a result of you getting the miracle you asked for as a result of you getting to Know me better Because what I'm gonna do with you in this moment is you you know me Mary Martha, you know me Lazarus You know me, but you about to know me better. You about to know how holy I am You're about to know how sovereign I am. You're about to know how powerful I am You're about to know how full of grace I am how full of mercy I am You know me, but you bout to know me better Gonna see how aware I am of the whole situation. That's right because in verse 3 they said Lord the one whom you love is sick Jesus said in verse 14. No, no the one who I love Lazarus is dead How you know that That's not what they told you Yeah, I am acutely aware of the situation No one is gonna inform me of anything. Please understand just because God is not responding does not mean he's unresponsive He knows exactly what's going on the situation. You're saying. Oh, look at my family. Look at my bank account What am I gonna do and he's looking at you, baby. It's so much worse than that You have no idea how much you need me, but I'm gonna show you here in a moment Lazarus is dead and I'm glad for your sakes that you may believe as you get to know me better as You get to understand who I am prayer Transforms us it does not inform God When I pray I'm not praying to give God information. I'm praying to get transformation

And as I say that you can say well, doesn't that kind of make God a liar? Like he said verse 4 the sickness is an unto death 10 verses later Lazarus is dead so What's going on there? And I have empathy for that because if you're you're young and your faith that that can mess with you But you got to remember who he's talking to these are Mary and Martha. He trusts them These are mature believers. And so I'm sure I'm sure at first they thought everything was cool. Lazarus is sick They say ah, don't worry about it. Let's get a message to Jesus. Hey Jesus the one whom you love is sick Lazarus Don't worry. We got word to Jesus. I'm sure he's gonna show up here any moment. You know how he likes to heal people He gonna heal you like like don't worry about it. It's coming. Maybe he won't even show up Maybe he'll just send a word like he did for this in Turin servant, you know, he can do that Jesus is good like that like like he's coming. Don't worry. He's on the way and and Lazarus breath starts to get more staggered And he's going in and out of consciousness and finally He breathes his last and Jesus never showed up But they're mature believers. So they said no. No, I'm I'm not worried. My faith isn't shaking I know whom I have believed and so Remember Jairus remember Jairus his daughter She had died and then he showed up and so they're peeking out the window Even as they look at Lazarus his lifeless body and they say I know I know he's coming But he doesn't come Say Mary Martha we we got to prepare the body We've made the funeral arrangements Say okay, and and they take his body they wrap it up They they march him all the way down to the graveside and I think their faith was probably still strong Because they've seen him do this before in name I saw they were on their way to the graveyard But then Jesus came and he interrupted the funeral but like Jesus is gonna do it, but they make it all the way to the graveyard And Jesus never shows

they put his body in the tomb and Jesus is nowhere to be found They seal it Darkness falls and he doesn't show up This is embarrassing It's embarrassing to trust God this much and him let you down this publicly I Get embarrassed when I give people a restaurant recommendation and they don't like it. I can't imagine. The whole town knows our relationship. And yet what Jesus did for thousands, he couldn't be bothered to do for me. He doesn't show up for another four days. Can I ask, why did you stop praying? Did you stop praying because you don't think God is capable? Or did you stop praying because you know he's capable, but you're shielding yourself from disappointment because you're not sure if he's willing to do it for you. What do I do when I need a miracle, but I can't find a miracle? What do I do when I need one, my back's against the wall, I need you to come through and I don't see you? I'll be honest, I don't have a magical point to give you as an answer. I don't have a verse that you can memorize that you can activate anytime this happens in your life and now your miracle will come. That's not what I have. All I know is this, when you need a miracle, but you can't find a miracle,

it's an invitation to trust and wrestle with the God of miracles. When you need a miracle, but you can't find a miracle, it's an invitation to wrestle with the God of miracles. If I had time, I'd take you to my friend Jacob in the Old Testament who needs a miracle. He's in the fight of his life and he starts wrestling with God. And as he wrestles, it's not the miracle that he gets, what he gets is revelation. What's revealed to him, he gets a limp. And so now he knows, God, I need you. And more than that, God changes his name from Jacob, which means deceiver, which means supplanter, to Israel, which means son of God. It means Prince with God. So now he knows, God, I need you and God, you want me. When you need a miracle and you can't find a miracle, it's an invitation to wrestle with the God of miracles. And in that wrestling match, he will reveal to you your need for him and he will reveal to you his love for you. This is what Mary and Martha do. Look at what Martha says when Jesus finally shows up to the scene here in verse number 20. Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him, but Mary was sitting in the house. Now Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn't have died. But even now, I love that, even now I know

that whatever you ask of God, God will give you. You know Martha, she's confrontational. She has that attitude. God, where was you? You late. I know you got my text. I saw when you read it. You leave your red receipts on. If you had been here, my brother wouldn't have died. That's how I used to read her response. And I used to judge Martha for how she responds to Jesus. But now as I'm reading it and I've gotten a little bit more mature, I don't think that I should be judging Martha for her response. I think I should be commending Martha for her response because yes, Martha is angry, but at least she's angry with Jesus. Because oftentimes when we can't find a miracle, we'll settle for a vice. I wanted healing, but since that was apparently too big of a ask, I'll settle for getting numb. I wanted peace, but since I'm still living in chaos, I'll settle for addiction. I wanted restoration, but since that's too much for you, I'll settle for a distraction, not Martha. Martha brings it to Jesus, proving Jesus right in him trusting her with his lateness because yes, she may be confused and yes, she may be disappointed,

but she is not disillusioned. God, you may not have done what I thought you were going to do, but you still are who I know you are. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. There's a pastor out of Memphis, Brandon Clack. His wife got pregnant and they told him, hey, your daughter's brain is developing outside of her skull. We suggest you abort the pregnancy. They don't, they believe God for a miracle. They get the whole church to believe. Pastors from all over the country were believing for a miracle that the baby is born with her brain outside of her skull and she dies. Her name was Zoe. And this pastor, he had to wrestle with this. I've prayed for people and they've gotten healed. And now Jesus, you couldn't do it for me. But he came to this conclusion and it blessed me. He said, if God is God, then he must be better than what I can understand. If God is God, then he must be better than what I can understand. That's what I think Martha comes to. I think that's the conclusion she gets to here in John 11.

Jesus responds to her, your brother will rise again. Martha said, I know he will rise again. She has an attitude. in my mind, I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. She said to her, no, I am the resurrection and the life. And he who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? She said, yes, Lord, I believe. I believe that you are the Christ, the son of God who has come into the world. Martha didn't catch it. She thinks resurrection is an event. Jesus says, no, resurrection is a person. I am resurrection. And that's really good news because if resurrection is an event, you can miss it. But if resurrection is a person, you can know him. And if the person of resurrection is the son of God, the eternal God, the God who sits outside of time, then late is never a problem. For a God who is eternal, he has never experienced the concept of late. He's never experienced the concept of before. He just is. And I can experience resurrection because I know resurrection and resurrection lives in me. That's how he deals with Martha. But then look at what he does for Mary here in verse 32.

Then when Mary came where Jesus was and she saw him, she fell down at his feet. Y'all know how Mary is, always dramatic. And she said to him, watch what she says. Lord. Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn't have died. Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her weeping, he groaned in the spirit and was troubled. Mary says the same thing Martha says, which I expect Martha to say it. That's how Martha is. You know, she's direct, she's confrontational. But Mary's a worshiper. Mary gets real intimate with him. But disappointment has a way of changing your worship. I don't have oil this time. All I have is falling down at your feet, weeping. Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn't have died. And what I love about Jesus' response is he's so intentional on how he's delivering this miracle to them. Because to Martha, he gives reason. But to Mary, he gives presence. To Mary, he just gives sound. He sees her weeping and he doesn't say, come on, it's not that bad. He doesn't say, don't cry. He doesn't say, am I not enough? Isn't enough that you're saved?

No, no, no. He sees her weeping and he's groaned in the spirit and is troubled to the point that you get to one of my favorite verses in all of the scripture, John 11, 35, Jesus wept. If you haven't memorized scripture yet this year, there you go, Jesus wept. Now that is more than the shortest verse in the scriptures. That is the character and the heart of God on display. For the first time in recorded history, God cries. The tears of Jesus touched the dust of Bethany and that surprises me because I've cried a lot in my life, but when I cry, I'm crying about something I cannot change. That's why I'm crying. I'm overwhelmed. I'm disappointed. I'm hopeless. Jesus is crying and not only can he change it, he's about to change it, which tells me that he's not crying because of something he lost. He's crying because what pains me, pains him. He's crying because he's a good Lord who's well acquainted with grief. He knows what it is to grieve. He knows what it is to mourn. When you are in that place of pain, you are never alone. He's a good God and he meets her in that place. He's not too busy being God that he can't experience pain. Yes, you're gonna work all things together for my good and your glory.

That's Romans 8, 28, but go up two verses, Romans 8, 26. The spirit also helps us in our weakness for when we do not know what we should pray as we ought, but the spirit himself makes intercession for us. Watch this, with groanings which cannot be uttered. When I'm in that place where all I have is a yell, where all I have is a scream, where all I have is breaking down, he meets me in that place, in the wrestle. When I can't find a miracle and I step into that invitation to wrestle with the God of miracles, that's how he meets me. Story concludes, verse 43, the miracle that we're all expecting now. When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he who had died came out, bound hand and foot with grave clothes and his face was wrapped with a cloth. And Jesus said to them, loose him and let him go. It's powerful, glory to God. Like that's what we're all. all needing, that's what we're all expecting. And I could preach about how, you know, this is gonna be your come out season. I could preach about how you gotta walk out that thing, even if you gotta walk out in grave clothes. I could preach about how when the stone moves you, you gotta walk out of that thing, and all that's good and true and helpful,

but I don't want us to miss the point of the story. Because while everyone's celebrating, while everyone's high-fiving, there's one group of people who are upset, the Pharisees. The Pharisees are the religious and cultural leaders of the day, and Jesus has been going around for the last three years claiming to be God. Not just claiming it, but demonstrating it with a power and with an authority that they had never seen. And they said, no, no, no, the people are believing in him and not the Mosaic Law, we can't have this. And they'd seen him do miracles and signs and wonders and doing all this, and they were wanting to put him to death, but finally, remember, Lazarus is well-known, and the story is spreading, and they don't know what to do. This is the straw that broke the camel's back, and here's what it says in verse 53 of John 11. Then from that day on, they plotted to put him to death. And they were successful. Because two weeks later, Jesus will be back in a graveyard. But this time, his body will be the lifeless one. This resurrection isn't like any other resurrection, because in resurrecting Lazarus, Jesus is sending himself into the grave. And he does it anyways. He knows if I resurrect Lazarus, I'm signing my own death certificate.

And he does it anyways, because that was the mission the whole time. Lazarus, if I can be honest, you gonna end up back in a tomb one day. And if you go in the tomb, and I don't go in the tomb and come out of the tomb, when you go in the tomb, that's where you'll stay. But if I go in the tomb and I walk out the tomb, then when you go in the tomb, it is nothing more than a doorway. Lazarus, I know you're going through it right now, but can I help you, Lazarus? What you're going through isn't even about you. I'm using what you're going through to do what I need to do in the earth. A lot of you, you're looking at your year, you're looking at what you're going through, and you need it to make sense to you. Could it be that what you're going through isn't about you? Maybe what you're going through is just what you're going through. That's what Jesus said, John 11, verse four, this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it. Through it, through there is the Greek word, dia. Dia means by the instrumentality of. Like, you know the difference between an instrument and music, right? Like Aaron's here and he's playing all beautiful

and sanctified and it's awesome, but that keyboard is not music. You know that? Like Aaron, stop playing real quick. Holy Spirit, we'll be back. Wow. The keyboard is there, but the music has stopped. Why? Because the keyboard is not music. The keyboard is an instrument that you play to get music through. It's just a tool you get music through. Go ahead and come back and play all beautiful and sanctified and holy, all that. And now that he's playing again, he's setting an atmosphere in this place of worship, but he's playing it. That's how it comes. Lazarus, your death is not my glory, but if you give me your death, I may be able to play it for my glory. Let me help you. The pain is not God's glory, but if you give him your pain, if you give him your setback, if you give him your regret, if you give him your disappointment, if you give him your sin, he may be able to play even that for his glory. Lazarus, this isn't about you.

I'm playing chess, not checkers right now. This isn't about your death and resurrection. I'm using it to get to my death and resurrection because it isn't just Lord, the one whom you love is sick. No, it's bigger than that. The ones whom I love are sick. But if I can get to my death and resurrection, then I can resurrect you from whatever grave you find yourself in. This is what Jesus is doing. And this is how he gets glory. How does he get glory from this? Because now I see him more. And the more I see him, the more I trust him. And that's the miracle you need more than any other. The miracle you need more than any other is to trust God more today than you did yesterday. This is why I don't care what it looks like anymore. I trust him. I trust him because I know he is always working things together. Better yet, he's always playing things together for his glory and for my good. He'll take the frustration, he'll take the pain. Disappointment he'll take the hurt. He'll take the sickness. He'll take the death He'll take the sin and he will play it for his glory So all of the pain it matters all of the tears you said they matter in the economy of God They are doing something he is working it together

He is playing them together for his glory and for your good and if you ever need proof Then the cross is proof positive that he will take the worst thing and he will play it together for his glory and your good Let him play it Lazarus come out of the tomb you take my life. I'm gonna take your death. I'm just going through it. Anyways I'm gonna just go through that thing Paul help me Romans 8 and we're done What then shall we say to these things if God is for us who can be against us who shall separate us from the love? of Christ shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword No, no, no I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels or principalities or powers or things present Or things to come not height not death nor any other thing Shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord Let him play this year. Let him fight that heartbreak. Let him play that disappointment Let him play that failure. Let him play what you're going through and he'll prove it for his glory and for your good Jesus, we love you. Yes, we need you to play what we're going through. That is our confession tonight That's our confession here at the top of 2026 We are putting everything on the altar and saying Lord all we have in our broken Hallelujah is will you play it? Will you use this thing and work it together like only you can for your glory and for my good? That's who you are It's who you've always been you are the resurrection in the life and we can know you whether or not we can find the miracle We can come wrestle with the miracle maker. Holy Spirit move in this place. We love you and trust you