Have you ever looked at what is happening in your life and wondered: "Lord, what on earth are You doing?" Or prayed, asking Him to work in a situation, convict hearts, remove trials, then wondered if He was even listening or cares? I am sure that we have all been there at different points in our lives; I know that I have. It is comforting to note that just because we don't see the Lord at work in a situation doesn't mean that He doesn't hear you or care. The Lord's answer to our prayers often comes in ways we don't expect. I was reminded of that this morning when I was reading John 11 and the account of Lazarus.Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, 'Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.'
Here we see that Mary and Martha, being concerned about their brother, sent word to the Lord that he was sick. I am pretty sure that when Mary and Martha sent the message to the Lord they expected Him to come right away and heal their brother.
But when Jesus heard this, He said, 'This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.'
This is probably not at all what Mary and Martha wanted from the Lord, as we see from their responses later in the passage. He promised that Lazarus' sickness would not end in death but would be for the glory of God. How often it is that the Lord answers us in the same way! I find the next part of this chapter quite interesting:
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was.
The Lord clearly states that He loved Mary, Martha and Lazarus. If He loved them so much, then why did He choose to stay two days longer? Why wouldn't He answer their prayers immediately? I have wondered this in my own life. The Lord tells me that He loves me; why doesn't He answer my prayers? Why does He wait so long to fix a problem, mend a broken heart, convict a lost soul?
Then after this He said to the disciples, 'Let us go to Judea again.' The disciples said to Him, 'Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?' Jesus answered, 'Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.' This He said, and after that He said to them, 'Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep.' The disciples then said to Him, 'Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.' Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep. So Jesus then said to them plainly, 'Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him.' Therefore Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, 'Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.'
So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off; and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother. Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house. Martha then said to Jesus, 'Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.'
"Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." Have you ever said something like this to the Lord? "If You had only done what I asked You to do, then this would not have happened."? I have; and when I think about how many times I have asked the Lord that question I find myself asking: "What right do I have to question the Lord? Do I pretend to know what is best for me better than He?" God is sovereign over all, He knows the end from the beginning; shouldn't that qualify Him as the One who knows what is best for our lives?
Jesus said to her, 'Your brother will rise again. Martha said to Him, 'I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.' Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?' She said to Him, 'Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.'
Do you believe this? That the Lord Jesus is the resurrection and the life? That whoever believes in Him will live even if he dies? This can seem to be a bit confusing. How can one live when he is dead? If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior then you have eternal life. Our lives on this earth may end in death, but that death is only a doorway into the eternal life we have in Christ. This is how we will live even if we die.
When she had said this, she went away and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, 'The Teacher is here and is calling for you.' And when she heard it, she got up quickly and was coming to Him.
Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met Him. Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and consoling her, when they saw that Mary got up quickly and went out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, 'Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.' When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, and said, 'Where have you laid him?' They said to Him, 'Lord, come and see.' Jesus wept.
The Lord has finally arrived. This is not the answer for which Mary and Martha had hoped. Mary is asking the same thing that Martha asked earlier. "Why did You not come earlier? If only You had my brother would still be alive!" (my paraphrase) Jesus, seeing Mary weep at His feet and those who wept with her, was deeply moved. And Jesus wept. Such a seemingly unimportant statement, yet it is perhaps one of the most comforting verses in Scripture. The Lord loves each of us and cares deeply about the things we care about. He doesn't stand by and watch as we suffer, unmoved. You have taken account of my wanderings; put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book? (Psalm 56:8) Mary wept over the loss of her brother; the Lord wept with her.
So the Jews were saying, 'See how He loved him!' But some of them said, 'Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?'
So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, 'Remove the stone.' Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, 'Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.' Jesus said to her, 'Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?' So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, 'Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.' When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come forth.' The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, 'Unbind him, and let him go.'
Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done.
Sometimes the answer to our prayers comes in ways we do not expect. When Mary and Martha asked the Lord to help their brother I am sure that they never imagined the answer would come this way. And yet, which way brought more glory to the Lord? To heal Lazarus right away? Or to allow him to suffer and die that the Lord might raise him from the dead? And as for Mary, Martha and Lazarus' walk with the Lord; which answer would cause them to glorify God the most? It can be really hard to wait on and trust the Lord's timing. We want the Lord to answer "Yes" every time we ask. But there are times when He tells us to wait, as was the case with Mary and Martha; and sometimes He tells us no. It can be difficult to accept the Lord's answer at times. When we pray for the healing of a loved one and the Lord says no. When we ask that the Lord convict the hearts of our unsaved friends/family and He says to wait. The Lord sees the bigger picture and He knows what is best for us. Our God is absolutely trustworthy; He is good all the time; and HE LOVES US!
Remember the former things long past,
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is no one like Me,
Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things which have not been done,
Saying, ‘My purpose will be established,
And I will accomplish all My good pleasure.’
Isaiah 46:9-10
