When God Delays

Written by R. Toddy Jadoo

Take today’s next step: Are you waiting for God to answer? 

“Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.” (John 11:5-6)

Lazarus was a friend of Jesus who fell ill and was near death. His sisters, Mary and Martha, sent word to Jesus who was healing and preaching in a town a distance away. Lazarus died while they were waiting for Jesus to get to him. Interestingly when Jesus got the message that Lazarus was sick He did not panic, worry or stop what He was doing! He continued to do what He was doing for TWO MORE DAYS! (Read the entire story in the book of John chapter 11).

Wow! What a reaction! At first it seems as if Jesus didn’t care about Lazarus’ plight and his sisters’ anxiety about his illness. Yet, the end of the story is one of the greatest miracles recorded. Lazarus died and Jesus brought him back to life!

Why Didn't Jesus Raise Lazarus Immediately?

Jack Graham

When you read the story of the death of Lazarus (John 11:1-45), you have to ask the question, “Why did Jesus delay in coming to see Lazarus?”

After all, he had gotten word two days earlier that Lazarus was deathly ill. Why did he wait for two days to go see him? Did he not care?

Yes, Jesus cared. The Bible says he loved Lazarus. Then why did Jesus delay?

There are times when we pray and God doesn’t come through the way we expect him to come through. The healing doesn’t come. The answers don’t come. We cry, we pray, the tears flow, and we wonder, does God care about me?

Yes, he does! The same one who wept at the grave of Lazarus weeps for you. His tears represent his sympathy to us as our Savior and High Priest.

God Delays

On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days (John 11:17).

Mary and Martha were very close to Jesus. The Bible says Jesus loved Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Mary was the woman who came and poured expensive perfume on Jesus and the disciples rebuked her. 

Lazarus, Mary and Martha's brother, had become terminally ill. Jesus was away in Jerusalem during the time of Lazarus' illness. After Jesus heard the news that Lazarus was ill, instead of running to the aid of Mary and Martha, Jesus waited two days. Lazarus died and was placed in a tomb. His response to the news was: "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it" (John 11:4). Jesus had to look beyond Mary and Martha's current grief in order to fulfill God's purpose for this sickness.

"When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home" (John 11:20-22). Mary was in deep mourning over the death of her brother. When she finally went to see Jesus, she immediately cried out to Him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."

“From Empty to Full” – Part 2 “The Fullness of Time”

“A white-tailed deer drinks from the creek; I want to drink God, deep draughts of God I’m thirsty for God-alive.”

Psalm 42:1
The Message

EXPLORATION:

“From Empty to Full” – Part 2

“The Fullness of Time”

“Fullness” – Containing all that is possible. Complete in every detail.

What am I “waiting” for God to do in His “fullness of time” in my life?

INSPIRATION:

“But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son to redeem us.”

Galatians 4:4- 5
K.J.V.
The Message

I want to begin our devotional today with a thought-provoking prayer I read several years ago in one of my treasured books, Laughter, Silence and Shouting by Kathy Keay. This prayer is entitled, “Waiting” and it was written by women who found themselves in a time of “postponement” or “expectancy.” A time when the answer didn’t come, immediately! A time when God’s help didn’t arrive as fast as necessary.

The Wise Know God is Constantly With Them

by Rick Warren

“God is always on the alert, constantly on the lookout for people who are totally committed to him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9 MSG)

When God gives you a mission, you can be sure you’ll run into delays, difficulties, detours, and dead ends along the way. They are a natural part of life. But you can be ready for them.

For example, if anybody had a right to be discouraged, it was Noah. Do you know how long it took Noah to build the ark? 120 years. Could you go 120 years on a project without one word of encouragement from anybody else in society?

Noah trusted God. And when he heard God's warning about the future, Noah believed him, even though there was no sign of a flood. I bet there were many days that Noah didn't feel like going to work, but for 43,800 days, he went to the same place, and he worked. He never gave up.

Don't give up on your dream, either. Don't give up on your marriage. Don't give up on your health. Don't, don't, don't give up. God is in control. You haven’t read the final chapter of your life. God's already written it, but you haven't read it yet.

The Bible says, “God is always on the alert, constantly on the lookout for people who are totally committed to him” (2 Chronicles 16:9 MSG). God is looking for people that he can bless.

Talk About It -

• What is the God-size dream you’ve been ready to give up on because of difficulties and delays?

• How do you want God to bless you as you commit your life fully to him?

Rick Warren is the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., one of America's largest and most influential churches. Rick is author of the New York Times bestseller "The Purpose Driven Life." His book, "The Purpose Driven Church," was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the 20th century. He is also the founder of Pastors.com, a global Internet community for pastors.

How Badly Do You Want It?

Written by Carolyn Savelle  

Have you ever prayed for something over and over and you still didn't get the results you were believing for? Have you prayed the "Prayer of Faith" and every other kind of prayer you knew to pray, and it didn't work? It makes you wonder, "Well, last time it worked." Why isn't it working this time?

It feels like you are praying a hit-and-miss kind of prayer, and you don't really know why sometimes it works and other times it doesn't.

Well, I have found the missing element in getting your prayers answered.

Since January of 1999, every prayer I've ever prayed, everything I've desired, everything I've asked God for has been manifest in my life...within moments, days and hours. The struggle of faith has ceased in my life.

Delayed Gratification - I Wish You Enough

Habakkuk 3:1–19

In Habakkuk 2:2–3, God asks his prophet to record a vision of a future day—a day when the Lord will respond to injustice. 
Habakkuk 2:4 spells out that we are to live until that day “by his faithfulness,” not by sight. Habakkuk 3:3–15 reveals the content of the vision.

Habakkuk is deeply changed; his response in 3:16–19 clearly illustrates what it means to live by faith in God’s promise. After a moment’s recuperation from the cosmic events that he has just witnessed, the prophet declares, “I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us” (Hab 3:16). 

When God Doesn't Make Sense

Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. When therefore He heard that he was sick, He stayed then two days longer in the place where He was.  John 11:5-6

The urgent message came to Jesus.  His good friend Lazarus was very sick and needed Him ASAP.  Surely Jesus, the One who would drop everything to go heal complete strangers, would come running to Lazarus’ town of Bethany to save the day, right?  Wrong!  When Jesus heard Lazarus was deathly ill, He purposely waited two more days before making the twenty mile journey to Bethany.  By the time He finally arrived, Lazarus was stinking dead and in the tomb four days.  

Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, both said the same thing when Jesus showed up, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:21, 32).  

Undoubtedly, they were wondering WHY He didn’t come in time.  Undoubtedly, they were shell-shocked at the message He sent, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified by it” (John 11:4).  What in the world could that possibly mean given the fact that Lazarus died the very day Jesus uttered those words?  Is this some cruel joke?