It Stinketh !

John 11:39-40 Devotion (08-25) It Stinketh !

It Stinketh !Dwain D. Cox

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Good morning Family, let us invite the Holy Spirit into our midst this morning. Todays devotion comes to us from John 11:39-40 “ Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.  Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?”

Now, we have all endured and encountered rotting and decaying foods or animals and the pungent smells associated with them. Well, what in your life is rotting and releasing rancid smells. Let us be open because decaying matter does not contain itself to only its present location. Is it your illness, has cancer spread beyond what the doctors can treat and they are trying to make your final days as comfortable as possible? Is it a financial situation, the loss of income and the house being repossessed by the bank? Or could the stench come from a bad relationship; A child no longer communicating with his parents, a marriage facing divorce, or a lifelong friendship that has soured?

You might be praying for these situations longer than a few days it took Jesus to visit Lazarus. But what can be found in your unanswered prayer apart from our individual pain. We learn patience and understand that pain in of itself does not necessarily move God to act. Notice that if Jesus had healed Lazarus only Mary Martha and possibly a few others would have been impacted. However, resurrection would bring greater glory to God.

Now look back into your own life from the perspective of what glory could God get from your stinking circumstance so what others will believe in Him. God might not have answered your prayers yet because it does not stink enough. Also, note that whatever situation you are in and no matter how rotten it has gotten even to death that God can bring it back to life (John 11:25 “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live”)

Come, join me in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank You for being ever present with us in our respective lives. Lord, we invite you into this rotten circumstance and we understand that you have the power to change it or take us through it.  Lord, You have already overcome even death, so let thy will be done and all the glory be given to You in Jesus’ mighty n

ame we pray Amen.