All they had to do was to believe what He had said and then let God take care of the rest. They did not have to worry about the tomb or who would get the brother out of it or whether there would be anyone to help them roll away the stone. All they had to do was to say, “Thank You, Lord, You have spoken the word, ‘He shall live’, and that is all we need to know.”

So He worked with them until finally Martha’s faith rose and she said, “I believe in the resurrection,” but as she stopped there He had a difficult time building up her confidence so that He would have something with which to work. Isn’t He patient and longsuffering and tolerant? Oh, the infinite patience He has with every one of us in His culture of our spiritual life!

He had said something, namely: “Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?” There is the threefold faith pro­cess. Why does there have to be something stated first? Because the very fact that faith is what it is, means it is never operative unless it has something to venture out upon. Faith is a strange ele­ment. Everyone has it, but it is no good until it has something to work upon. You have to believe something. There is no such thing as just believing. Sometimes I am disturbed when watch­ing people work with seekers at the altar.

They say, “Brother, just believe. Lay hold and believe.” Give them something to believe, something tangible. Faith calls for something to believe just as the sun­ dial calls for the sun. A sundial is useless without the sun. So it is with faith. I must have something in which I can place my faith, something to venture out upon, something that invites confidence.