Jesus is never Late (2)

“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

John 11:21

Two days ago, we began examining the seventh sign in the Book of John. Yesterday, we were able to understand that Jesus is never late; instead, He shows His love for us until the end, glorifying the Father so that in everything the Father is glorified. Today, we will continue to understand that Jesus is never late and that He has everything figured out, even when we have no idea what is happening.

When Jesus arrived, Lazarus had been in the grave for four days. Let’s take a step back. The family reached out to Jesus when Lazarus was sick, but Jesus arrived four days after the burial. Imagine a situation where a very close friend could solve a problem in seconds, a problem that could make you lose everything you have. You reached out to him, but he didn’t show up until four days after you had lost everything. How would you feel? You might almost hate that person or at best be very angry, as it would be a breach of trust. What if it were a matter of life and death, like Lazarus?

However, our relationship with Jesus is different. Even though Jesus loves us, He is not obligated to answer us according to our own timeline. As we saw yesterday, it is always about glorifying God. Nevertheless, there is a natural human response, as seen with Martha and Mary. They both blamed Jesus, saying, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Like Mary and Martha, can you think of the countless times you have directly or indirectly blamed God for what happened to you or around you? How many times have you said to God, “If only I had this, this wouldn’t have happened”? We have many ways of blaming God directly or indirectly. The only reason we make such statements, like Mary and Martha, is because we have lost hope that anything can be done about the situation. It is a sign of hopelessness.

I assume Jesus must have felt hurt by this, wondering why even friends who should believe in Him have become hopeless and do not think He can do anything anymore. Jesus is telling us today that we should never give up on any situation in which we have involved Him. Think back to all the things you gave up on along the way. As Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding.” The intention of Jesus is to bring us to a point where we trust that He will intervene in any situation we have involved Him in. He would never leave us hanging; He loves us too much to do that. But we should never give up, because His plan is to glorify God through our situations. Delays in our lives are never a question of God’s love, but a question of how much we trust Him. So, never feel that God is late or that He doesn’t love or value you. Instead, He desires that you trust Him with all your heart.

PRAYER