John 11

This chapter start out very simply. “A man named Lazarus was sick.” So? Lazarus is sick. Lot’s of people are sick, what so different about Lazarus? Well Lazarus’ two sisters went to Jesus and said, “Lord, the one You love is very sick.” So now we know, Lazarus is rather important to Jesus noted here by the sisters saying “the one You love”. Now I know personally if a person said that someone I loved was very sick, I would drop everything and go to see that person. But Jesus did not. He said to the sisters that “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it is for the glory of God. I, the Son of God, will receive Glory from this.” But what he says next is what really stuck with me.

Key Verse:Although Jesus loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus, he stayed where he was for the next two days and did not go to them. Finally after two days, he said to his disciples, Let’s go to Judea again.“

This comes down to God’s timing. We must remember God has a plan, and no matter what we go through, God knows it. We pray and ask for His intervention or His help, it may not happen right away or in the way we expect it, He has a plan and He does things according to His timing not ours. He did come and answer the call for Lazarus, but not in the way the sisters had thought. Lazarus did die and he was buried for several days. Even the sisters had told Jesus that if he had arrived sooner he would have been able to heal Lazarus, but that wasn’t a part of God’s plan, or His timing. Jesus came and raised Lazarus from the dead, in front of many witnesses. So in the end, Jesus did help Lazarus, but not in the way it was expected, or in the time frame either. But either way, God received the Glory.

My prayer: Lord I know sometimes I fall to my knees and cry out to you for help, and sometimes it feels like you don’t answer. But when I read about the way Jesus responded to the cries for help for Lazarus, it reminds me that, you already have my best interest and my needs taken care of, and that I need to be patient and trust in you. That you do answer my prayers, just not in the way I expect it, or think I want it. You know my needs better than I do Lord, and it is comforting to know. Amen.