What to do when you or a loved one is sick: 7 Lessons from the sickness and death of Lazarus

I preached this as a sermon a little over a month ago. True story. It may sound like I went all self-help and felt-needs, but I think if you give John 11:1-16 a read and listen to the sermon that it holds up.

So here's a summary for those facing illness. These things can be helpful for major illness, minor, Covid-19, or something else. For the full take and context you can listen to the sermon here. Or look here for the message on John 11:1-16.

From the sickness and death of Lazarus: 7 things to do when you or a loved one is sick.

1. Go straight to Jesus. I'm NOT saying don't go to the doctor or don't go get tested or don't take medicine. Do those things. I AM saying go to Jesus! Mary and Martha send straight away for their friend Jesus (John 11:3) who they believe can heal their brother (John 11:21,32). Is it your instinct to go to the One you know loves you and is able to help you? His response may not be what you want (it wasn't the response Mary and Martha wanted!), but it will always be what is good for you. Go to him!
2. Don't be surprised. Jesus loved Lazarus (John 11:3,5). Lazarus was a friend of Jesus (John 11:11). It seems Jesus had a close relationship with this family. And yet Lazarus got sick and died. If he got sick, anyone can. If you believe a close relationship with the Savior exempts you from suffering, that will crush you when you're sick, not help you! You can take the health, wealth, and prosperity non-gospel and flush it.
3. Rejoice. Jesus was glad (rejoiced) that he wasn't there to heal Lazarus before he died (John 11:14-15). What he’s going to do for Lazarus is going to be even more faith-building than if he had been there to heal him. You might say that it's easy for Jesus who knows what's coming and harder for us because we don't know what's coming. True enough, but we do know Jesus who has what's coming in his hands.  And in some ways, we do know what's coming. See #7 below. (This is in no way a denial of the rightness of mourning in the midst of suffering...see Mary, Martha, and Jesus in the subsequent verses.)
4. Ask how it might glorify God. Jesus knew the resurrection of Lazarus would glorify God (John 11:4). We won't always know exactly how our sickness or the sickness of a loved one will bring glory to God, but let's be looking for how. He might get glory through a miraculous healing. Glory might come to him through his long-enduring, never-failing grace on display through a long trial. Because of his grace, your patient, faith-filled, enduring response to sickness might honor him as you encourage others around you. Your sickness and response might even be used to draw a lost person to Christ.
5. Ask how it might strengthen the faith of others. Jesus did what he did so his disciples (and others) might believe (John 11:14-15). He wants their faith to grow through the suffering of Lazarus and his response to it. Do you ever look for how your suffering might strengthen the faith of others? We are really good at loving and looking out for ourselves, especially when we're sick. But the glory of God (see # 4 above) and the good of our neighbor should drive our behavior. Your response to suffering might be just the faith-bolstering thing your brothers and sisters in Christ need.
6. Rest in Jesus' wisdom. Carefully read John 11:5-6. Did you catch that? He loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus SO, THEREFORE, when he heard Lazarus was sick he stayed where he was two more days. He loved them, so he DID NOT come right away and heal him. And in our human wisdom, we say, "What?! That makes ZERO sense." And that is why we must rest in the wisdom of Jesus, not our own. Our wisdom calls for immediate relief. Jesus in his wisdom may delay. It may not make sense to you, but Jesus might delay BECAUSE he loves you. Surely it didn’t make sense to his disciples in that moment. But there’s something coming that will be glorious. God will be honored. These saints will be strengthened in their faith. Others will come to faith (John 11:45). There’s going to be a testimony for all time (still today!) of the power of the Savior, that he is the resurrection and the life. Jesus’ delay was an expression of love even though they couldn’t see it right then. Rest in his wisdom. Jesus loves you, therefore, so he’s doing this in your life.
7. Remember that Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Everything we've said above means nothing if Jesus is not the resurrection and the life. It means nothing if Jesus himself didn’t rise from the dead. But he is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25) and he did rise from the dead (John 20:1-10). The resurrection of Lazarus from the dead (John 11:38-44) and Jesus' own resurrection demonstrated his power over the grave. That means there is sense to be made of our suffering. Even if our suffering ends in death (and eventually it will), our story doesn't end. It’s just beginning, and we will live forever with him (John 11:25-26). We have hope in our suffering because of Jesus, the resurrection and the life. If he’s in the grave, this post is complete garbage; there’s no good in our suffering. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead and that means we will be too.