Delayed

I want to talk about John 11 today. It’s about a man named Lazarus that is Jesus’ friend who gets sick and is raised from the dead by Him. I am not going to put the entire chapter on here but I highly recommend you read it all when you get a chance. Pay close attention to what the scripture is saying. I want to highlight certain scriptures that I feel are important in how they showed Jesus response and how it can play a factor in our lives today.

It starts out telling us that Lazarus was sick and he had two sisters, Mary and Martha. In verse 3 it says, “Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick.” This means that Lazarus is really sick and they want Jesus to come heal him before he gets worse. I mean he had healed all kinds of people who he wasn’t friends with or were considered “sinners” so why not go heal his friend, whom he loves? It goes on saying that Jesus loved them. Verse 6 says, “So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.” Did you catch that? Since he loved Lazarus and knew he was sick, he waited 2 days at the place he was and did not go run to his bedside to save him. How many times in your life do you find yourself in a situation that you feel like you are dying or “sick” either emotionally or physically and God is not there. How many times has Jesus made you wait in your situation and you think he isn’t coming? I have numerous times when I wondered where God was and when he planned to save me from my problems. I thought I was supposed to be accepted into RN school this past summer, that didn’t happen. I was upset and questioned God over and over asking why I wasn’t accepted and my plan to finish school by a certain age and prove myself to everyone was crushed. Luckily, God saved me from getting into school because I had bigger issues going to go on in the following month and school was not going to be possible. I didn’t know that at the time but he showed me shortly after. When I think back to last summer, I think of the period I had to wait before God came and he allowed me to seek him to find my answer. He showed me that my love for school and furthering my education was greater than my love for him. I was more worried about proving myself than I was about learning about him and his word. If I was accepted into school, I would not have this blog and I would not have grown so much in my faith. I would have succeeded in my career but would have been empty in my knowledge of the God who put us on this earth.  

If you are sitting in a situation or disappointment that you’re not getting an answer to right away, it’s because God is in that delayed period with you. He needs you to seek him and have patience for the plan. Mary and Martha had to watch their brother die and after 4 days of him being dead Jesus finally showed up.

Let’s jump to verse 21, “Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” He is questioned two more times about why he did not save Lazarus from dying but Jesus kept saying this is for the Glory of God. If he healed Lazarus before he died then only Mary and Martha (whom already believed) would see his work. Instead he had the sisters as well as other Jews who followed them to the tomb and watched Lazarus be raised from the dead. His intention was to have those people around to see his work so they would believe in God and his work.

I just want you to remember the same Jesus who raised him from the dead is the same one that is here fighting your battles so you do not have to. When you think your life is delayed and, that he left you, or does not have time for you; He is there for you. He has already conquered the world; he just needs to take some time to make sure it’s for the Glory of God and not just what our flesh wants. If you feel stuck, go seek him, read his word, go to church, or listen to informational podcasts about Him. See how your situations will turn for the better. You may feel your patients are running thin or your situation is bigger than you can bear but Jesus took on the world, he’s got you.

Remember friend, take a deep breath and God will give you the peace to make it through.

Much Love,
Charity