Life at His Feet

I wonder if Mary’s heart was beating fast as she gazed upon her Savior for the first time. Her sister’s complaints fading into the background as she heard the sound of His feet walking around her home. He stops walking, and words of life start flowing from His lips.

Her heart whispers, “Closer, Mary, closer.” She stops at His feet and sits. Listening intently to every word He says.
 
This was the moment they met. At His feet. That was kind of Mary’s thing- intense adoration and beautiful devotion to her King. Each step Jesus took closer to her, she took another until she was there again- bending low in worship, bestowing beauty to the author of her heart.

Jesus shared a precious exchange with Mary as well as her sister Martha and her brother Lazarus. There was a love there that bonded them together so uniquely. I can imagine when Lazarus became ill there was panic laced with faith. Death was on the table, but there was still hope because they knew Jesus.

But Jesus didn’t come until 4 days later (John 11:17), and Martha met the Lord in sorrow, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died” (John 11:21)

Jesus replied, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” - John 11:25-26

“Yes, Lord,” She says. “I believe You are the Messiah, the Son of God, who comes into the world” - John 11:27

Gosh, do I commend her faith here or what. So many times when brokenness becomes too real of a reality I can lose sight of who I know the Lord to be. Even in heartbreak, Martha was resilient in her faith and hope in who Jesus was.
 
Hearing of His coming, Mary ran out of her house to meet Him. I would love to have seen this moment between the two of them. Bloodshot eyes and tearstained cheeks, she once again fell at Her Savior's feet. This time filled with a defeat that pierced her soul.

“Lord, if you had been here…” she declared to Him and wept.

This moment wrecks me. I can so easily be Mary, can’t you? The countless moments we meet Him at His feet with wonder in our hearts- contemplating the brokenness of our reality and the divine timing, hope and life giving spirit of our King. They don’t always intertwine the way we dream for them to, do they? But then I read stories like this and it gravitates me back to the heart of God. It reminds me of who He really is.
 
There was something in Mary’s posture, in her words that struck the Lord’s heart so deeply tears welled in His eyes. Though He was determined for His beloved family to know there was a greater glory on display, He wept with her.

There bent low in the dirt, compassion met heartache as hope lingered on the horizon.

Can we stop here, just for a moment, in the dirt with them? This is where hurt sliced so deep and the God of life came closer and closer to His child in need.
 
I read in a devotion this morning about the beauty of Jesus’ identity revealed in this chapter. It said:

“To Martha, Jesus established Himself as God.
To Mary, Jesus established Himself as human.”  
(She Reads Truth)

Resurrection. It’s not just a promise for the sting of death to leave. It’s a promise for rebirth and restoration. Dead things will live again. Cold hearts will beat again. Voids will be filled again. And life. It’s a promise of abundance, a fullness we can’t explain, a compassionate and deeply kind God who will always give love, and light, and life to His children.
 
There are times I am so faint of heart that I just need Him, I just need His presence to do what only He can do. So when Jesus stopped, and wept with His girl, my heart is filled with so much hope that He will always stop in His tracks to give life back to my heart however it needs.

Here with Mary, Jesus displays a great glory of God. He isn’t afraid to endure pain with us and even more, He isn’t afraid to do whatever it takes so that we may weep no more.
 
The brokenness of grief remained in the tomb with Lazarus’ grave clothes, and the hope of Christ was established once again.

I wonder how their faith and hope felt after their brother’s resurrection. The admiration in their eyes gazing at their Savior. The gratitude in their hearts. Little did they know another tomb would soon hold the grave clothes of their King and resurrection and life would rise to greater heights than they could dream.
 
Mary. A woman enthralled by her King never stopped drawing near to Him. Many days after her brother’s return to life, there was a dinner held for Jesus. Martha served like she always did and Mary drew closer, like she always did. She knelt at His feet and let her hair fall as she anointed the God of life.

I pray that our faith would be encouraged by this story. That our hope would be restored in believing the Lord will give life to us forever. That like Mary, our hearts would long to sit at the feet of our King in every season. Jesus, crown your children with lovingkindness and redemption. Reveal yourself to us, with personal intimacy, the beauty of who you are. Thank you for never leaving us but filling us again and again.
 
“How enriched are they who find their strength in the Lord; within their hearts are the highways of holiness! Even when their paths wind through the dark valley of tears, they dig deep to find a pleasant pool where others find only pain. He gives them a brook of blessing filled from the rain of an outpouring.” - Psalm 84:5-6

Author | Emily Goldin