Scripture
3So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.” 4But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.” 5So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, 6he stayed where he was for the next two days. 7Finally, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea.” John 11:3-7
Observation
God’s Love is constant even when it appears inconsistent. We all expected Jesus to rush to Lazarus and heal him. Jesus doesn’t do what we expect He surpasses our expectations. It’s in the interim, the divine delay, the waiting room that our faith has trouble trusting God really does love us. Jesus would only do what His Father was doing and His Father wanted him to wait not one, two, or three but four days after the death of Lazarus. Anyone looking at this situation would consider the actions of Jesus at the least insensitive at the worst downright cruel. Jesus would heal a stranger but not rush to the aid of His best friend?
Application
Sometimes in our lives it seems that love of Jesus takes way too long. That God is helping others, but He is somehow deaf to our cry. We see a miracle elsewhere and wonder when ours will arrive. It’s easy to judge the love of Jesus on our own time table. It’s easy to look at His “lack of action” as proof of His lack of love for us. This, of course, couldn’t be further from the truth. It was the love Jesus had for his friend Lazarus that caused Him to delay “for the glory of God”. When we pray we expect God to work according to our “when” and our “way”. Why? Because He loves us. Yet, if we truly trust His love for us then we will trust His “when” and His “way” even when it makes no sense do it that way. It’s the faith Shadrack, Meshach, and Abednego stood in when they faced down the wicked King Nebuchadnezzar, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. 17If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. 18But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.” (Daniel 3:16-18). The litmus test of God’s love for his servants was not whether he rescued them from the fire or not. They knew they were loved regardless of the outcome. Why? Because God’s love for us does not change even when our circumstances seem to prove otherwise. My friend Gabe Dominguez went in to the hospital a week before I did with Covid Double Pneumonia and he is still in the hospital contending for his healing. I’m crying out to God right alongside Mary and Martha and the many others who love them, “God, why is this taking so long?” Yet, do you know where the Dominguez family is standing? In the consistent and constant love of the Lord. In fact, one of their go-to worship songs is “Another In The Fire” by Hillsong:
“There's a grace when the heart is under fire
Another way when the walls are closing in
And when I look at the space between
Where I used to be and this reckoning
I know I will never be alone
There was another in the fire
Standing next to me
There was another in the waters
Holding back the seas
And should I ever need reminding
Of how I've been set free
There is a cross that bears the burden
Where another died for me
There is another in the fire”
Prayer
I know what You are doing with Gabe is unto Your glory Lord. I will not doubt your love even though it seems to be taking way too long. I pray that Gabe will not need a tracheotomy and I praise You for the improvement we are seeing in His breathing. For all my friends who are contending for healing in the midst of the Divine Delay we declare Your love is trustworthy and true. We will not bow to fear or doubt but will stand on a love unshakable. When I was in the hospital separated from my family You were holding me and nursing me back to health. I can count on Your love no matter what is going on around me.
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