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God First, Even When You're Dead

Insignificance.

It sounds easy, right? Well, yes and no. After all, being a nobody doesn't exactly take a lot of work. I happen to know from personal experience. On the other hand, it's not easy to accept until you understand that you don't lose like the world understands losing. When you come second to God, you end up fulfilling all the backwards sayings of Jesus. You know, the first being last and all that.

But even this isn't as easy as it sounds. And why? Because we haven't added the suffering.

A good example comes in John 11 when Lazarus dies. Much has been said regarding this story and what Jesus was doing. At two different moments, Jesus says it is for their belief and for the glory of God that this happened.

Sop and let that sink in. Lazarus didn't die because he was healthy. He got sick. He suffered. He breathed his last (or so he thought). His sisters tried to help him. They even turned to Jesus for healing. When nothing changed, they mourned his death. Anyone losing a close loved one understands this was not a Sunday School lesson with fuzzy animals on a flannel graph.

This was sickness. This was death. This was insignificance experienced for the sake of the glory of God.

God comes first. We come second. When it feels good. Even when it doesn't.
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