CHAPTER 14
running a bit late
& n b s p ; & nbsp; Often, while we think God is disregarding our requests, He is actually getting ready to blow our minds. At one point in my singleness, I became very frustrated because I felt like God owed me. Why was He taking so long to deliver? I know this sounds absurd. Of course, God does not owe us; we owe Him everything. But sometimes, no matter how perfect God’s timing is, it does seem like our “quick return” is quite tardy and our “just reward” is just late.
& n b s p ; & nbsp; It is frustrating when you know something is yours but you cannot see it or feel it. Sometimes, it is embarrassing, too—like throwing a party and then nobody shows up. My faith was on the line. I had made a public confession that it was my turn and my season. I told everyone that Mr. Right was on the way. But nothing happened. So there remained a big label on my life: still single. I felt as though I had thrown a big faith party, invited Jesus as the special guest, and gathered all my friends to join in the festivities. I was embarrassed when Jesus did not come. No one informed me that sometimes He does not show up until the party is over.
& n b s p ; & nbsp; They told me that He’s an “on time” God and that late in the midnight hour, God’s gonna turn it around. As far as I was concerned, midnight had come and lingered. It was midnight when I cried myself to sleep the first time, and the time after that, and the time after that. What about the turnaround? To me, everything was turned upside down and Jesus had not come when I expected him. I felt like Mary and Martha. They, too, had expected Him to show up. But midnight passed three times before He got there and when He finally did arrive, three days late, their brother Lazarus was dead.
& n b s p ; & nbsp; I dare not downplay the miracle of Lazarus being raised from the dead. But certainly a resurrection would not have been necessary had Jesus come when Mary first called Him. Scrutiny of the scriptures suggests of Him a nonchalant attitude insinuating, “I’ll get there when I get there.” Was Jesus waiting for Lazarus to die? Had He no regard for what Mary and Martha were feeling?
And many of the Jews came to...comfort them concerning their brother...
Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming,
went and met him; ...but Mary sat in the house. Then said Martha unto Jesus,
Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
John 11:19-21
& nbsp; God loves us, just as He loved Mary and Martha, even when we feel abandoned. It is during these hard times that He is trying to draw us closer to Him. During our most trying times, He is coming to us and calling us just as He was calling Mary. But in her own oblivion and despair, she offended the Lord and her lack of trust troubled Him so much that it brought Him to tears.
& n b s p ; & nbsp; I don’t think Jesus cried because He was grieving over Lazarus. Why would He cry over a problem He could solve? I think He cried because He, the Redeemer, was being forced to redeem Himself. He probably thought, “Will they ever learn?” Those whom He lived for and came to die for, including Mary, were not acting on what they [should have] believed. She was no longer living by faith. Her attitude said, “Where were you?