Jesus had a very good friend named Lazarus who was very ill.  To the point of death.  So Jesus, full of compassion and with the known power to heal, rushed to his side.

Only he didn’t, did he.  He waited.  He waited until he was sure that his friend was dead; until his friends sisters were totally bereft and distraught.  Only then, when it seemed too late, did he go to him.

“Seemed” is the key word here.  Is anything too hard for God?

If you know the story, you know you know it ends very well- Lazarus alive, his sisters ecstatic, the people in awe, and Jesus making a very significant proclamation:  “I am the resurrection and the life.”

If you follow the news, you can find much to instill despair: poverty, disease, hunger, war, injustice, human trafficking, the economy, the crisis in education, to name a few.  You might say, “Too far gone.”  “Hopeless.”  “Dead in the water” Is anything too hard for God?

Recently I met a man and tried to explain briefly what we do in Bridge Ministries, and why.  His response was priceless: “That must be a hell of a hard job!”  It is.

Is it possible to get Christ followers of all types and stripes to come together, pray together, work together?  Is it possible to get us to lay aside our differences, find our common ground in Him and work together?  Sometimes, it seems almost hopeless, dead in the water, too far gone.

Then we recall that our work gets it’s origins in Jesus’ own prayer for unity in His body, the Church.  Then we remember that unity and working together is His idea, not ours.  Then we recall that this or any task is only hopeless if we depend on our own strength.  Then we realize that all of the best efforts any of us make to address those problems and ultimately bring people to Jesus can in fact succeed if we depend on Him completely- and work together as He leads.

And so we carry on- joyfully, and hopefully!  It’s never too late with God.  He is the resurrection and the life.