Do you feel like you’re lifeless? You’re barely going through the motions of your daily routine. It might even be hard to breathe.
When we experience situations that cause trauma and deep pain, it is very natural to feel dead emotionally.
At other times, unresolved trauma sometimes leads to anger. It becomes our dominate feeling as we try to “stuff our stuff.”
Most times, instead of feeling alive, we feel dead.
I was emotionally dead for years and fought my battle alone because I believed no one cared enough to listen. I thought being silent was spiritual! I just kept “fighting the good fight of faith” alone.
I wanted to be free, but I felt hopeless.
I prayed regularly, but when we’re dead emotionally and spiritually, we need to do more than pray about it. We may need someone to help us, come to our rescue, and free us from the emotional chains that bind us.
I love the story of Lazarus found in John 11. Lazarus was a sick man and passed away.
Before Lazarus died, His sisters and friends sent someone to tell Jesus to come quickly and heal Lazarus. Jesus didn’t seem to be in a hurry to get there even though he deeply loved Lazarus and his two sisters.
Three days later, he made it to the home of Lazarus’s sisters, Mary and Martha. Mary came running to Him, weeping, and said, “If you would’ve been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.”
Jesus said to her, “Your brother is not dead; he’s only sleeping.”
Mary knew he was dead, and she persisted, saying, “No Jesus, he’s been dead for days, and he’s already in his tomb. If you would’ve been here, my brother would not have died.”
Many times we say what Mary meant – If you would’ve answered my prayer, I wouldn’t be in this place of pain.
Jesus walked to the tomb and asked the crowd to take away the stone. In a loud voice, He then called Lazarus to come out of his grave.
Lazarus came out of the tomb bound in his grave clothes from head to toe.
Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, but he asked the people to be a part of the miracle by asking them to:
- Roll away the stone
- Take off his grave clothes
When you are dead, you are helpless. You cannot reach out to people, but you need someone to help.
In our pain, we roll a stone across the door of our heart to protect ourselves from more pain. We end up alone with no power to free ourselves. We are not physically dead as Lazarus was, but we have died emotionally and spiritually because we have closed the door to our hearts.
The grave clothes are a symbol of the things that have entangled us over time. Disappointment, sadness, and hopelessness bind us. In this condition, we are alive, but not living.
I can relate to being dead. I felt like a zombie going through the daily routines of life.
Dr. Richard Dobbins says, “The tragedy is not in dying, but what dies inside of us while we live.”
We need someone to come and roll the stone away and help us remove our grave clothes.
This story is a beautiful picture of how we can respond to those who are bound by the troubles, pain, and disappointments in life. It’s a story about setting the captive free.
Those of us who are alive and well have the privilege to roll the stone away and take the grave clothes off of those who are isolated and alone.
We are the hands and feet of the great healer, and He wants us to reach out to those who are bound and dying.
We do this by opening our eyes and ears to the needs around us. Compassion compels us to care and then respond to those who need help.
In my past, when I was dead emotionally and spiritually, someone came to my rescue. Although I had prayed for years, my help came when I had an encounter with a friend, and I confessed my disappointment and shame.
As I complained, cried, and talked, I felt hopeless, believing there was no hope for a better life. The grave clothes bound me, and the stone was securely set in front of the door of my heart. There would never be a resurrection for me!
Yet, one single conversation planted the seed of hope for a better tomorrow, and the stone to my heart rolled away. As the stone rolled away, the light began to permeate my heart, and I felt life again.
I hope my experience can be the proof needed that there is always a reason to hope.
- Hope in what you cannot yet see.
- Hope God answers your prayer.
- Hope that the next phone call will be a good news call.
- Hope for the day when you feel freedom.
You may find your freedom over time as a result of a supernatural experience, answered prayer, or merely a conversation with someone who cares. You can begin to feel the weight lifting off your shoulders, and you start to feel alive again.
My healing was a long process that included taking responsibility and allowing others into my life to help me unwrap my grave clothes.
I found strength in prayer, confession, and the help of others. My healing was not instant but miraculous.
Asking others for help is a sign of strength and humility.
The resurrection of Lazarus was a combination of the power of God and the love of people.
Are you bound by your past, call out for help as Mary did and you’ll find God and people will come to your rescue.
