John 11:21 English Standard Version (ESV) Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

Human nature wants what it wants without regard to much of anything else. We all have people we love and some of those people are in desperate danger of loss. So we pray and ask the Lord to do our will.

John 14:14 English Standard Version (ESV) If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

Note closely that it was Martha and not Mary that hurled this accusation at Jesus. Martha was the one who worried about much. Mary was the sister that hung on Jesus’ every word.

Our human nature desires to have things our way. We remember passages readily that tend to support that nature. Jesus is Lord and we are to do what He asks and not the other way around.

Human nature looks to blame anyone but ourselves when our prayers are not answered in the way and the timing we seek. Fake faith healers always blamed the faith of the seeker for a healing that did not happen. Our will cannot replace God’s will.

The death of Lazarus lead to one of our foundational beliefs. It was God’s will that his death would be so public and his resurrection so emotional in order that everyone would hear these words.

John 11:25-26 English Standard Version (ESV) Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

This is the lesson about faith and human nature. Faith does not change our nature but rather overcomes its failings.

2 Corinthians 5:7 English Standard Version (ESV) for we walk by faith, not by sight.