Why Not Now: Repairing My Relationship with Family - Tuesday
John 11:5
Although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, he stayed where he was the next two days. (NLT)
God’s timing can be a frustrating thing, can’t it? He takes too long. Things aren’t happening on schedule. Everything’s on hold. He just doesn’t do things when we want them to happen.
The story of Lazarus is a prime example of that: “Lord if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Mary & Martha both say the same thing to Jesus in John 11 verse 21 and 32.
When Jesus finally gets there we find out that Lazarus had been dead for four days. Talk about being late! It was a two-day journey from the province of Perea to Bethany. This means that Lazarus died as the messengers were talking with Jesus.
We could be tempted to think this whole scenario was a setup. We could coldly conclude that the events were arranged for the glory of God (v4), that Jesus waited for Lazarus to die to increase dramatic tension (v6), and that all of this was carefully calculated by an unloving “puppet-master” God using people to show off Jesus’ power. The text tells us differently: Jesus was good friends with this family and he loved them, we’re told that explicitly three different times (v3, 5, and 36).
So think about this paradox: Jesus loved them…so when he heard the news…he waited. Jesus loved them – so he waited. Jesus loved them, so he left them in the tension. Not just for a few minutes or hours, but for TWO DAYS! If it was up to us, most of us would say he should’ve left immediately – he should’ve done something and spared them the heartache. But he didn’t.
What Jesus does in this situation seems deliberate – to teach his followers to wait, to trust, to not lose hope, to believe in him. He wants us to learn the same thing. What situation in your life are you frustrated with God’s timing? What if there is a reason? What if Jesus loves you…so he’s waiting. That’s a hard thing to accept and believe!
Belief, after all, is trusting that Jesus is who He said He is an will do what He said He will do. Believing that God really is good and His timing really is perfect. The alternatives, as pastor Tim Keller puts it, “Worry is thinking that He won’t get it right and bitterness is thinking that He got it wrong.”
Tuesday’s Reflection
What situations in your life are you frustrated or disappointed with God’s timing? Take those emotions to him in prayer today.