Come Out of Your Cave - The Crosswalk Devotional - June 11
Come Out of Your Cave
By: Whitney Hopler
Bible Reading:
“Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.” – John 11:38, NIV
Inside a cave at Mammoth Cave National Park, a park ranger warned our tour group that we would become disoriented when she turned off her flashlight. Then, when we said we were ready, she turned it off, and complete darkness descended on us. It was disorienting! The darkness inside the cave was so intense that we couldn’t see anything else. Even our hands in front of our faces seemed like they weren’t there, because we didn’t have any light to see them. Darkness seemed like it was swallowing us until the ranger turned her flashlight back on, and we breathed sighs of relief.
Grief is like a cave. In this fallen world, we all lose someone or something important to us – through death, the end of a relationship, a job loss, a dream that doesn’t come true, or another kind of painful loss. Grieving can make us feel like we’re trapped in darkness. We may feel like there’s no way out of our caves, because it seems like hope has been buried with what we lost. But Jesus, the Light of the World, never wants us to stay in darkness. Jesus understands our pain but also offers us the help we need to move forward from it.
If you’re grieving, Jesus calls you to come out of your spiritual cave, just as he raised his friend Lazarus to come out of a physical cave into a new life of hope.
In John chapter 11, Jesus arrives at Lazarus’ tomb. The people around him are crying, and even Jesus is crying. Jesus understands the pain of loss and doesn’t dismiss your grief. But Jesus also doesn’t leave you there. As Jesus is moved with deep compassion, he calls for the stone to be removed from the cave's entrance. Then Jesus calls Lazarus out of the tomb and back to life!
This incredible story shows that Jesus meets you in your grief but doesn’t want you to remain stuck. Jesus cries along with you and speaks life into your darkness. If grief is leading you to withdraw from living your life fully, to close yourself off from other people, or to lose hope for the future, you need to come out of your cave. Jesus stands outside your cave, calling you forward.
Jesus isn’t asking you to ignore your pain and pretend that everything is fine in your life. But he is asking you to trust that God still has more for you beyond your suffering. Jesus calls Lazarus to step out of the tomb, but notice that Lazarus doesn’t walk out fully restored on his own. He’s still wrapped in grave clothes that he needs help taking off. Sometimes, even after you step forward, you need help removing something that binds you, like sadness or anxiety that clings to you. When you feel stuck in your grief, you can turn to Jesus for the help you need to heal. Jesus will help you remove your grave clothes so that you won’t be bound by grief any longer.
So, if you’re grieving, you can rest assured that Jesus understands. Jesus cares about you and is moved by your pain, just as he was at Lazarus’ tomb. But Jesus also has the power to help you walk out of darkness and into the light of hope. He calls you to step forward and to trust him. Jesus is patient and stands outside your cave, waiting for you to take steps toward him. One of those steps can be simply saying a prayer, asking Jesus to help you heal. Then Jesus will lead you to take other steps in your healing journey, such as talking to a friend or counselor about your grief and opening your heart to hope again. Jesus won’t rush your healing, but he does call you forward. Will you trust Jesus to roll away the stone from your cave? Will you come out and start walking out of the darkness of despair and into the light of hope? Jesus is waiting to help you.
Intersecting Faith and Life
As you consider how to find hope when you’re grieving, reflect on these questions:
- In what ways does grief feel like a cave in your life?
- How does knowing that Jesus cried with grief at Lazarus’s tomb bring you comfort?
- What are some “stones” – some heavy burdens – that might be keeping you stuck in grief?
- How can you give your burdens to Jesus and trust him to help you move forward in hope?
- What is one step you can take today to come out of your cave and embrace life again?
Further Reading:
Psalm 34:18
Isaiah 41:10
Matthew 11:28
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Revelation 21:4
Photo Credit: tomertu
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