This morning I was reading in John 11 about the death of Lazarus, his family's grief and that of our Lord over the death of his friend. As I was reading verses 38-39 the words struck me in a different way than they have before, as often happens when I am reading God's word:

Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. "Take away the stone," he said.

"But Lord...by this time there is a bad odor...."

Martha thought she had good reason to keep the stone in place and it would have seemed from our human persepective that she was right, but this is Jesus asking!

What are you keeping entombed behind a heavy stone? What from your past have you buried and left to rot, feeling it is too awful to be exposed? No matter what it is that you think is too far gone, to putrid to be revealed, He can take it and give you new life. Maybe it isn't your past, but your future...it can be easier to leave the large stones blocking our path in place and rationalize moving forward. There too, He goes before us and prepares a way. We must trust Him if we are to be of use to him.

I just had opportunity to speak with Brent, the first time they have had phone service in quite a while. They have been deep in the desert but will now be heading back into the mountains. They have been in heat as high as 120-130 degrees. The team split up yesterday and went in 2 directions; Deanna's team visited a fossil museum in the Sahara that holds the fossils of sea creatures dug on-site, certainly evidence for Noah's flood. Brent's team went into an area where the dunes tower overhead are very high and the sand too hot to walk on.In spite of bright sun, high heat and very dark spiritual forces in the region Brent says the students have been very resilient and that he has been very impressed with them and blessed by them. He feels most of them can be leaders. The team members are getting a lot of one-on-one time with the locals and he said many seeds have been planted. He tearfully shared that he is having the opportunity to see many things he never thought he would be able to and that the Lord is really evident.

Lord, thank you for your provision for your people and for being bigger than all of our problems, but gentle enough to meet us where we are.

God bless you today,

Brad