Take away the stone

“Take away the stone,” he said. (John 11:39 NIV)

 The Lord never seems to do anything for anybody that they can do for themselves. He expects them to work at it. And work for it. He didn’t just raise His finger and roll it away for them. He said, “Roll ye away the stone.” That’s something they could do. And then He did what they couldn’t do—raise Lazarus from the dead.
 I have sometimes found the will of God just by going ahead and trying doors and seeking and finding, asking, until I found out at least where it wasn’t, before He finally showed me where it was. Then I really appreciated it!
 All the way through His Word, God commanded man to do something first before God met his need. God told Moses to strike the rock and then He’d bring forth water. (Exodus 17:5–7)
 The Lord told the priests to go down to the water of Jordan and start carrying the Ark across, and that then He was going to stop the river at floodtide, when it was at its highest. (Joshua 3:7–17)
 God wants to see us obey first. Obedience comes before the blessing, obedience comes before the reward, obedience comes before the anointing. The test is to see whether you’re going to obey or not. And the minute you start obeying and working, God will do His part without fail. He will bless. “Roll ye away the stone.” —David Brandt Berg [1]

 We can be tired, weary and emotionally distraught, but after spending time alone with God, we find that He injects into our bodies energy, power, and strength.—Charles Stanley

[1] Anchor Roll Ye Away the Stone