“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” —John 11:21
God’s timing is not ours. It’s a well-known truth among Christians and a popular answer Christians give to non-believers and each other when things are not progressing as we’d like them to. Unfortunately, sometimes the popular answer does not make sense to us. This was certainly the case for Mary and Martha, whose brother Lazarus was dead for four days before Jesus reached their home. Martha has a natural reaction when Jesus arrives. You could easily read anger into her statement: “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” If not anger, there was definitely anguish in her words—deep sorrow with an undercurrent of confusion as to why Jesus, who had healed so many others before, didn’t heal Lazarus before he died. In Martha’s estimation, Jesus arrived too late. The mourners were already at the house. Lazarus had been in the grave for four days, his body already decomposing. She might have wondered why Jesus would bother to show up now, when an opportunity to perform a miraculous healing was gone. In today’s passage, Jesus proves He can do much more than people give Him credit for, and that His timing is perfect. Because He arrived after Lazarus’ death, Jesus was able to raise him from the dead. This proved Jesus had ultimate power over death, and cemented His standing as the Son of God. Perhaps the miracle of Lazarus had a hand in helping people believe in Jesus’ own resurrection a
while later. If God’s timing seems slow, or if you think He’s too late to do something, ask what He might be doing while you wait. Consider how His timing can help you grow, and ask Him to give you discernment.
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