How to pray for us

What's the most important thing to pray for us? Right now I'd say pray that we would think like Jesus about this whole situation, regardless of the outcome. This has loomed large in my thoughts the last few weeks. Spare me a few moments if you would and think about what he said and did in John 11:

    Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.... So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

    Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”

Two things stand out about his thinking that I want us to think as well. First, Lazarus' death was not pointless, was not merely tragic. The outcome wasn't merely death, but something great: "it is for the glory of God." God would be glorified--seen as amazing as he really is--not in this case merely by showing his power over disease, but over death itself. Disease and death take their best shot but fail. For Lazarus it was like getting to carry the torch for the opening ceremony of the Olympics--a great honor. Certainly not easy, but a great honor nonetheless.

The second thing to notice is that Jesus loved Lazarus and his sisters. He was not heartlessly using them as pawns to advance an egotistical agenda; a few verses later when Jesus arrives at the tomb he weeps. Even knowing the outcome he was moved. He didn't just force a stiff upper lip and stoicly ignore the pain of the moment. No, he directed the sickness, pain and death in that way precisely because he loved them. Read it again slowly and see. It was because he loved them that he didn't return immediately. Jesus could have come back right away and healed him. Lazarus' sisters knew that, believed that. But he stayed two more days, on purpose. Why? Because Jesus knew that seeing God's glory in raising Lazarus, triumphing over death, is better than merely living. And Lazarus had a front-row seat--he didn't just see the God's power at work, he felt it, experienced it. I wonder how many base-jumpers or other thrill seekers would pay money to have the experience of not just coming near to death but actually dying and coming back to tell about it!

My point in all this is to say that we want to think the same way. We don't take for granted waking up from general anesthesia or not suffering a stroke or anything. We know that the rubber meets the road in the midst of illness and death, and we want to be ready for it, ready to reflect what God is like in our lives and in our deaths, in our joys and in our tears.

(I'm not saying we should love death--far from it! but to show how loving it is for Jesus to show God at work as only he can.)

All that to say that we'd love for you to pray that we would be glad to be mirrors of God's glory and to trust God especially when it hurts, that we'd say with Jesus, "Not my will but yours."

Any suffering will be unspeakably worth it!

In addition to that, please:

• Give thanks with us for providing such a skilled surgeon, for help with the kids, for health insurance to help pay.
  
• Pray for strength for Krista as she juggles caring for three little kids and one big kid while under the influence of home schooling. (Especially as the onset of fall brings shorter days. I think she's half-plant; maybe chlorophyll injections would help make Northwest winters more tolerable for her.)
• Pray for wisdom, skill and stamina for Dr. Mayo and his crew. If he decides to do both surgeries tomorrow, it could take 10-12 hours, which is an awful long time to be hunched over and focused.
  
• Pray for the kids that they would be a blessing to those friends and family that are helping to care for them.
  
• Pray for healing and many more years of service out of this joint.

Thank you all for your love and prayers! SDG