Waiting on God pt. 1 - "When God Shows Up Late"

I'm running out of time. The clock is ticking and there is no sign of hope. If something doesn't happen fast it will be too late. Lord if you don't do something NOW...

Have you ever grown frustrated with waiting on God? Have there ever been times in your life when you needed God to act fast but He just didn't act fast enough. Has your situation ever flatlined while it seemed that the only One with the power to resuscitate it just sat by and did nothing?

These are the exact sentiments of Mary and Martha when their brother Lazarus was deathly ill, and they waited for Jesus to come and save him (John 11:1-44). Mary and Martha, trusting that Jesus had the power to keep their brother from dying, sent word to Jesus letting Him know what was going on in the fleeting life of their brother Lazarus. They knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that Jesus could keep their brother from dying, but the bible says that even though Jesus loved Mary, Martha and Lazarus, He stayed where he was for two more days, seemingly doing nothing about their situation (John 11:6). What kind of savior would just sit by and let someone that He loved die when He had the power to keep him alive? What kind of savior would take His sweet time in answering a call of distress when someone's life was at stake? I'll tell you...

A Savior who is not bound by human chronology (our 'time' system); A Savior who is secure in the abundant divine power that He had/has, and now possesses; A Savior who has the power to raise the already dead; and most importantly, a Savior who was trying to get His people to 'believe' in Him.

The truth is, Mary and Martha believed in Jesus as long as Lazarus still had breath in his body; as long as their situation was still living; as long as 'time' (chronos) had not yet run out. But their faith stopped there. They didn't even stop to think that maybe this 'Jesus' could not only keep Lazarus from dying, but He could reverse the death that ultimately took place. This not only shows us Jesus' power, but it also shows how much the Christ truly loves His people. Several times in this story, the bible mentions something of how Jesus was feeling through all of this (i.e. Jesus wept, He was deeply moved.) Jesus was moved by the melancholic nature of what was going on with the people that He loved. It had to have been difficult for Jesus not to act when He probably wanted to, but He had to allow the people to see the extent of who He was and what He was capable of, so that they would 'believe'.

We know how the story ends: Jesus ends up blowing every onlookers mind by taking faith, which they had in part, to a brand new level. Jesus brought Lazarus back from the dead!

My suspicion is this:
Many of us 'box' God into our time schedule. We think that if God doesn't act by a certain time, day, year, etc. that He must not care about us or our circumstance. We get so anxious and begin to lose focus on our Lord, paying more attention to our problems than Him. We have faith in part, but our faith is limited based on the "rules" of society, culture and ultimately this world.

My challenge is this:
Understand these things...
1. God is not bound by 'time' as we know it. God is eternal and has no limits. This means that while you and I are limited by time, God operates on an eternal scale. In other words, when time seems to run out for us, it doesn't for God. We are bound to 24 hour days, 7 day weeks; chronos. God operates on His own time scale. So with God, it is NEVER too late. We just need to stop losing faith when He doesn't move when we think he SHOULD.

2. God DOES care about our circumstances. Just like Jesus was "moved" by the pain that Mary and Martha felt, He is also compassionate toward our hearts and what we 'feel'. God is 'very present' in the lives of His people. God is not this 'cold' God that society sometimes makes Him out to be, but rather He cares. God cares deeply about us, and it DOES pain Him to sit by and watch us hurt. However, God is more concerned about our faith and trust in Him than He is concerned with our temporary pain, because God knows it is temporary. Trust me, it isn't easy for God to watch us go through things, but He is trying to show us what He is capable of for the sake of our faith, which is NOT temporary.

Read John 11:1-44
Reflect on a time or times that it seems as though God did not come through for you.
Realize that God cares, and He always comes through for us in His own way. We just can't give up and simply move on, stripping from God the opportunity to work in our situation.
Remember that it is never too late for God to intervene. God is not bound by our sense of time.

Be blessed.