Text: John 11:38–44
“Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”—John 11:40
Last week, we had a wonderful move of God at our camp for at-risk kids. The highlight was baptizing seven young people. Among them was a second-year camper who spent her first year hiding in a (literal) cardboard box for much of the week. This year was different. “C” came out of the box, engaged in Bible studies, and courageously spoke up and shared with others how much camp has helped her.
One camp evening “C” approached an adult staff and told her that she felt God tugging on her heart and that she needed to trust Jesus and be baptized! It is humbling to see how God continues to use our camp experiences to “unbind” young people from the strongholds of the enemy, and He often does it through a camp staff of overcomers who have seen God’s amazing deliverance in their own lives.
In John 11, Jesus approaches the tomb of a dead man—a dead man whom Jesus has already declared “will live again.” Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.” He probably looked like something straight out of a zombie apocalypse film. And then Jesus said these words to a people who were instantly moved from grief to wonder:
“Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
Jesus could’ve finished the resurrection job all by himself, but He invited His followers to work with Him in the business of “bringing-dead-people-back-to-life.” When Jesus speaks life into dead souls, He calls us to do the work of loosening them from the grave clothes that bind them. In other words, God uses people who have been through some stuff to help “unbind” others when they are going through stuff.
In seemingly no time, Jesus turns mourners into ministers and hurting souls into healing vessels. He turns their mess into a message, declaring that what was dead can be brought back to life!
Whether it’s a grave, a cardboard box, a drug addiction, a debilitating sickness, a cloud of depression, a stigma of shame, a fractured marriage, a prodigal child, or any stronghold of the enemy, God is still bringing dead things back to life. We need to first believe that God wants to resurrect things in our own lives, and then we need to look around and be aware of the grave clothes God wants us to help loosen in others.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, help me to believe in your resurrection over every aspect of my life. Help me to trust in the work you are doing to break every chain. Open my eyes to see those around me, within my proximity, whom I can walk alongside of as you bring them out of the grave and unbind things in their lives. For the glory of Jesus, I pray, Amen.