Lazarus Come ForthSample

The Need For a Savior 

John 11 tells the story of Mary and Martha running to tell Jesus that Lazarus has died. I would encourage you to read the whole chapter that we all can identify with. We are all in NEED of a savior to impact our lives, but rarely on the choosing of our time, but rather for the Glory of God.

At two different times both Martha and Mary told Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Jesus obviously had time to walk to where Lazarus was but stayed two days later where he was. Now I don’t know about you, but I could understand the tone of Martha and Mary’s comment. You could almost hear them saying: “why didn’t you come sooner? You heard he was sick! If you would have only been here when I wanted you to be!"

Therein lies the problem. We want Jesus to be where we are, do what we want him to do when we want him to do it. Maybe this is where the Genie in the bottle idea came from. The fact that Jesus stayed two days later was to prove a point. The Jews of that time believed when a person died, their spirit hovered around the body for three days. If Jesus had come sooner, many of the Jews would have attributed it to the spirit of Lazarus not leaving yet and reentering his body. But Jesus knows the minds of men long before we rub the Genie lamp and ask for something.

While many of us may not be asking Jesus to raise a loved one from the dead, the urgency may be just as important to us. You may be trying to conceive a child, land that new job, find that special someone or someone may be sick. When the prayer goes unanswered, you probably border on the edge of “Lord, if you would have only done this sooner” or “Lord, why don’t you move NOW!”

I always laugh when I think of the prayer, “Lord, give me patience and give it to me now!” More times than I care to admit, I fall into that category with my impatience for God to move in a situation that I deem needs His attention. Just as Jesus knew of Lazarus’s situation before Martha and Mary had informed Him of what was happening, He is aware of what we are going through. He may want us to go through the storm while holding on to Him instead of always removing the storm.

The next time you are in your quiet time with the Lord, ask Him for wisdom, discernment, and patience. Be willing to wait. We rarely understand that God’s time is perfect and not always our time. 

Scripture:
John 11