Move the Stone by Jennifer Tiszai

"Roll the stone aside," Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man's sister, said, "Lord, by now the smell will be terrible because he has been dead for four days." John 11:39 (NLT)

Martha was a practical woman. When Jesus came to her house to teach, she worker herself to the bone cooking and cleaning so Jesus and His disciples would be taken care of. When she complained, Jesus helped her set her priorities straight. While it was important for her to cook and clean, it was more important for her to be in His presence, to listen to and learn from Him.

Now Jesus has come again to raise her brother from the dead. He asks them to move the stone sealing her brother’s tomb, and Martha’s first concern is for the smell. She didn’t express her amazement that Jesus was going to raise her brother from the dead after four days, but that a body dead four days would stink.

Aren’t we often like that? God tells us to do something, to take a step of faith, to do our part so He can work. And instead of saying, “Wow. Let’s hurry and do it so we can see what God will do,” we tend to think of the practical before the spiritual. We wonder what people will think, how it could logically happen, how it will smell. Like Martha, our priorities are wrong. Instead of focusing on what God’s going to do, we are worried about how it’s going to affect us.

Why do you think Jesus asked them to move the stone? If He was about to resurrect a dead body, don’t you think moving a stone from in front of the tomb was a small thing? But He wanted their participation. He wanted them to put their faith in action. If they believed He was really going to raise someone from the dead, then moving the stone from the tomb was the first step they could take to show their faith.

So what stone do you need to move so God can work? What’s something you know God’s been asking you to step out in faith and do? What action would you take if you really believed God is who He says He is? Stop worry about the practical and get moving.