When God Seems to be Late!
When in our eyes God seems to be late, the truth of the matter is that He really is on time! We find that in the book of John chapter 11 that Lazarus was sick and Mary and Martha, his sisters send word to Jesus, a good friend of the family to tell Him about the situation concerning Lazarus. When Jesus got the message, instead of immediately getting to Lazarus, He delayed and came to Bethany, the place where they lived about four days later. By this time, Lazarus was dead and buried and the scene was one of sadness and despair as Jesus arrived and entered the home. The sisters, Martha and Mary were somewhat disappointed that Jesus had turned up so late and that He was not around when Lazarus needed Him the most. From their perspective, it was all over – dead and buried!
John 11:25-26 “Jesus said unto her, ‘I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?’”
The words of Martha and Mary echo through our hearts as we listen to these familiar lines: “Lord if you were only here earlier, our brother would not have died.” Jesus comforts them with the assurance that Lazarus will rise from the dead. But they seem to have some understanding that he would rise again on the last day. But Jesus is assuring them that if He is with them, anything is possible, because the King of impossibilities is with them. That thought never struck Martha or Mary, they had resigned themselves to the fact that their brother was dead. Sometimes that is exactly what we also do, instead of listening intently to what Jesus is saying, we seem to come to our own conclusions, disregarding what He says. The extent of our unbelief makes us to become the stumbling block to our own advancement.
Jesus gets them to take Him to the place where Lazarus was laid and He summoned them to roll away the stone that covered the entrance. Then from outside the cave, Jesus called with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus! Come forth!’ And without any hesitation, Lazarus came out bound hand and foot. Jesus had to ask them to loosen him. Can you imagine the change of their mood, situation, discouragement, and anguish, now that Lazarus who they buried, was with them again, alive and well? When we allow God to take control and we give ourselves over to Him for His use of our lives, then we don’t have to live by our limited perspectives, but we can live in the fullness of life because we are in relationship with the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning, and the End!
Are you frustrated and irritated because you set a timetable and things have not gone according to your plan? That is where the problem lies, when we place things in God’s hands, our timetable no longer applies. His timetable is what is relevant and important. Are you willing to discard of your plans and ambitions and ask God for His plans for your life. That makes so much more sense! Why would mere mortals, with limited knowledge, and messed up understanding, think that we have everything under control and have the audacity to tell God how He should work the situation out for us? That speaks of some kind of sick-messed up people! Be humble, reverence the Lord, leave it to Him to do what only He can and watch and see how good and great our God truly is! He is always on time!