DIVINE DELAY

Has there ever been a time in your life when God didn't show up at the right moment? Was there a time when you needed him, when you waited for him ... and ... nothing? It has happened to me and it has happened to people I know. I know people who prayed and prayed for God to save their marriage. They prayed, they waited, and the marriage failed. I know people who prayed and prayed for God to heal their loved one. They prayed, they waited, but the healing never came. I know people who prayed and prayed for a job, or a promotion, or a financial need, or an emotional need ... they prayed, they waited, but the right answer didn't arrive at what seemed to be the right time.

How should you respond when that happens? Some people decide then and there to give up on Christianity. They say, in effect, "If God won't give me exactly what I want, how I want it, and when I want it, then I just won't believe in him." Most Christ-followers don't do that. Most Christ-followers, when it appears that God has missed a deadline, they just say in a sad little voice, "OK...I guess it's not your will. I guess you have more important things to worry about. I guess I shouldn't have asked. I guess I didn't deserve it."

I have learned something remarkable over the years. Even when it seemed like it was over, it still wasn't quite over. Even when God didn't "show up on time" ... he still showed up. And I've learned that when God doesn't "show up on time", what happens next is better than I could have imagined. There is a story in the Bible that supports this experience. It’s the story of Lazarus in John 11:1-44.

While Jesus was traveling with his disciples, he received notice that Lazarus was sick. When Jesus heard the news he did something a little out of character. He did nothing. He waited. He simply said to his disciples, "This sickness will not end in death," and he stayed where he was for two more days. When he and his disciples arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had died. Even though Jesus had first said, "This sickness won't end in death," Lazarus was dead. And his sisters, of course, were heartbroken. Something important happened in Martha's heart at that moment. She got in on the miracle. She went from thinking that Jesus had missed out on the situation, to believing that Jesus was the master of the situation—that he was in control, that he knew what he was doing, that everything was going to be fine. She didn't know what Jesus was about to do ... but she knew Jesus, and she put her trust in him.

I suspect that there is someone reading this who finds their self in Martha's shoes. You find yourself thinking, "Jesus, where were you? If only you had been here, you could have done something. You have the power to change this situation, I know you have the power, but where were you?"

After Jesus said to Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life," he then asked her a simple question: "Do you believe this?" She replies in verse 27; Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world." At this moment she not only put her faith in Jesus, she put her trust in him, too.

If you're waiting on God, and he seems to have missed his deadline, it's not over. He's on his way. Maybe your situation seems to be a dead as it can be. He's on his way. Soon he will be calling your name: "Come forth." Come out of the grave of sin and defeat and despair and hopelessness, and step into God's resurrection power.

Where do you begin? You begin where Martha began. You say, "Yes Lord, I believe. I believe that you are who you say you are, and I trust you with my future, and I ask you to fill my life with your resurrection power today, and every day, until the day I see you face to face."

 

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