Jesus Revives Hope In Disappointed PeopleSample

When Jesus heard that the one He loved was sick, He knew it was Lazarus. We expect to hear, “so Jesus left his ministry in the region of Perea and hurried to the home of Mary and Martha.” Or at the very least we want to read, “Because of their trust and unwavering belief in his power, Jesus, who was a day’s journey from their home, spoke the word and Lazarus was healed.”

Instead we are shocked to find that “when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.” 

Christ’s delay was deliberate. Unbeknownst to any of the people standing outside Lazarus’ tomb, the too-long, too-late arrival of Jesus is for the benefit of his beloved. He delayed and prayed to help their unbelief. Just when their hearts and minds are rife with confusion, resignation, and scorn, Jesus calls a dead man out of a tomb to live. 

If Jesus had healed Lazarus, there would have been only a handful of witnesses—the sisters and the disciples. But because he delayed, a crowd had gathered and many that day saw who Jesus really was.

Throughout our years in the church we have been encouraged in song and scripture to cast our anxieties upon Christ, because He cares for us. Like Mary and Martha, we have sent word to Jesus in prayer, knowing that He loves, He cares, and He can help. We know without a doubt that God will give Jesus whatever He asks.

In the same way an iceberg shears from a glacier, God has the capacity to cut away our suffering in an instant. More often, though, He employs a lengthy process more like erosion to accomplish His work. 

The gradual work of erosion is as painful to a human heart as it is violent to a natural landscape. In our exposure and battering, we fear He has bobbled the cares we cast. We strain against the wind, rub sand from our eyes, and bemoan His lack of protection

The challenge for us is to trust His perpetual work when we think He is too slow. When the landscape appears unchanged, and the weather wears us down we must remember Christ’s unhurried work is always the result of His love.
 

When the wait is over, and His glory is magnified, we will find our hope has not been denied, only divinely delayed.

RESPOND: In what ways had God begun to conform you into the image of Christ through His divine “delay?”