When God Waits

Therefore the sisters [Martha and Mary] sent to Him [Jesus], saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love [Lazarus] is sick.”

When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. ~John 11:3-6

In this story of Lazarus' resurrection, we see two sisters crying out to their Lord to help them.  They recognize that Jesus is the only one who can truly save them.  And they turn to Him.

So they brought the problem before Him, and what does He do?  He waits.  He does absolutely nothing.  Yet.

If you were Mary and Martha, what would you be thinking during this time?  Why isn't He here? Does He not love us?  Does He not love our brother?

But yet, Jesus did still love them.  In fact, it was His love for them that kept Him back.  That word "so," means "because of this; and for this reason, etc."  His love for them compelled Him to delay His journey for two days.

This time, Jesus waited until the situation was beyond hope.  Lazarus was dead.  As dead as dead can be.  There was nothing more that could be done--you can't heal a dead man.  And then Jesus shows up.

And what does He do?  In this time of complete despair and desperation, with not an ounce of hope left, He appears.  And He brings life.  He does the impossible.  

He raises Lazarus from the dead.

Why did Jesus wait until the situation was beyond hope?  Verse 4 gives the answer:  “He said, 'This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.'”  Why did He wait?  So that He might be glorified!  Why did He wish to be glorified?  So that they might believe.  John 11:41-42 says this, "And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, 'Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.'"

He waited so that He might be glorified and they might believe.

Like the story of Lazarus, the Lord often sees fit to wait on giving an answer to some of the prayers  in our own lives.  This is not because He is mean or because He does not love us; on the contrary, it is because He loves us that He seems to remain silent.  He has something so much better in store!  It is God's deep desire that we might be pure and holy, set-apart for Him. He will use things that seem "bad" to us to bring about His good. He uses times of desperate and hopelessness--at least hopeless from our perspectives--so that He might show Himself glorious and powerful; the One who alone deserves the praise and glory.

Remember that this story was written in the Scriptures so that we might have hope.  Romans 15:4 says, "For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope."

Take hope, and believe, my friends.

Although God may seem as if He is silent in answering your prayers He is at work.  If He denies you something, even to the point of seeming hopelessness (Like Lazarus), remember that He has something better in mind.  He has a plan.  He is working for your good-because He loves you!

Trust in Him my friends; and keep on praying.    He is working out something for your good, that you might see His awesome power and believe--just as the Jews saw the awesome power of Jesus and some believed (John 11:45).  Take heart!