Message: Reading John 11 we see that Jesus was
told that his friend Lazarus is dying. Instead of stopping everything to go and
heal him, he stays another two days and then decides to go to Judea. By the
time he gets there Lazarus had already died and been in the tomb for days. So
not only was Jesus “late” in healing him but he had missed the funeral too! Mary
and Martha were upset because Jesus appeared to be too late. Not only was he “late”,
but he told them he was glad it happened for the glory of God. This seems
insensitive until you continue reading. Even still, he wept with them before he
raised him up .
Command: Trust God when it seems doomed.
Promise: God will work on our behalf.
Warning: Gods solution sometimes comes when it
appears to be over. Don’t blame him when it doesn’t do it the way we want or
expect he should.
Application: Jesus intentionally kept from
intervening when Lazarus died. He told them it was for their good and they didn’t
understand until after it was over and Lazarus was raised. I relate to this
because I usually want God to stop something I’m dreading instead of showing who
he is on the other side. Like Mary and Martha, I’m tempted to blame him when he
doesn’t seem to care enough to show up. What I often don’t understand is why he’s
allowing it instead of stopping it. In hindsight we kind of get it, but it
really seems uncaring and unloving when we’re in the middle of the crisis. We feel
like the only way is to stop it, and God is showing us that he will allow our
circumstances to completely play out until they appear irreversible. This is hard,
but God shows us how powerful he is on the other side.
