John 11:3-4, 6
³Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.⁴When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.
⁶Therefore [even] when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He still stayed two days longer in the same place where He was.
Perhaps we wonder, why a loving father would delay to handle certain things, because here we see Lazarus mentioned as one whom Jesus loves, caught in sickness till it did Him death. This is a place where you are waiting on God in a situation that turns from worse to worst and like Ezekiel it feels like the valley of dry bones. So you wonder and question, but Lord why?
After tarrying two days, He makes a decision to go!! But the disciples were worried about the death attempts against his life, nevertheless, the time had come to verify His own word: This sickness shall not end unto death!!
John 11:8
[8]The disciples said to Him, Rabbi, the Jews only recently were intending and trying to stone You, and are You [thinking of] going back there again?
Regardless of how long He takes, He breaks through the barriers, nothing can stop him from running to your aid, even if it involves His life, be still and know that He is God. He may seem to have tarried but when the time has come, the will of the father is quickened. The Lord delaying doesn’t mean that He has forgotten about You neither doesn’t it mean that He loves You any less but like a cloud that bursts forth with rain, so does your situation in Hos timing!!
Often times it feels like everything has run down the road of death and there is no hope therein, but Jesus re assures us of His life giving ability: I am the resurrection and Life!! These very words He reminds Martha when she makes a plea of Lord: If you were here, my brother would not have died!! She actually believes .
Romans 8:38-39
³⁸For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,³⁹Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
As a beloved one of God, nothing can separate you from His love, whether your situation feels like hell itself. Whether there is a delay or quick response, Your beloved has not forgotten about You, rather His thoughts are ever on You, like the psalmist says; [Ps:139:17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!], in God’s timing He appears as a light in darkness. Did the land of Naphtali and Zebulun, entrapped in bondage ever know that the light of the Messiah would arise first on them?
John:11:21
[21]Martha then said to Jesus, Master, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.
Often times when such delays come, we feel rejected, denied, un loved, un noticed, a silent God who cares not or rather an invisible God of imagination, agonising questions run through our minds, we wonder where He is, what He is upto. If He is there, why the delay, it all seems like crying out for help in vain, we cry like Mary and Martha, Lord if you had been here nothing of this sort would have happened!!
Mary and Martha where positioned in a place where it was deemed possible for Jesus to heal the sickness but how about when the situation was beyond sickness, would the possibility still be a surety, if it were your situation, would you still believe for it?
God wants us in a place where our faith be lifted and His name Glorified.
Psalms 139:7-8
⁷ Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? ⁸If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
There is that usual saying, delay is not denial!! There is a greater purpose as Jesus intended for Lazarus death to turn into God’s glorification, that thing you think has really delayed has a beautiful purpose attached to it in God.
John 12:17
[17]The group that had been with Jesus when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from among the dead kept telling it [bearing witness] to others.
Prophetic Utterance :
The Lord thinketh upon me, my help and my deliverer; O my God, though my situation tarries yet will I wait on Your name yet even though You may tarry, yet shall my testimony burst forth as the waters released from a cloud.
Halleluya.
Guiding text:
Mark 5:35-36
³⁵While Jesus was saying this, some messengers came from Jairus’ house and told him, “Your daughter has died. Why bother the Teacher any longer?” ³⁶Jesus paid no attention to[a] what they said, but told him, “Don’t be afraid, only believe.”
Psalms 102:13
Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.