We live in such a fast-paced world and our lives demand that
we get things done quickly. We have 1 minute
rice, On Demand TV, Gogurt, drive through Starbucks, instant oatmeal, 24 hour
customer service and vending machine shoes.
With all of these time-savers you think we would all have more time, but
we have less. But what we have even less
of is patience.
Patience is a long lost virtue; just consider the last time
it took you longer than 25 seconds to download something. This impatience has created an attitude of
instant gratification that has influence all other expectations. In our spiritual walk we apply these same
expectations to God and when He doesn’t answer in our time frame we get
frustrated. When we are not instantly
gratified we are so quick to question if God cares or if He even exists. As a result we take matters into our own
hands and we deny God’s leadership. Impatience
is a weakness that suffocates faith.
Faith is likened to a mustard seed that needs to grow and impatience
stunts that essential growth.
Let’s look at the story of Lazarus. After being told that Lazarus was severely
ill and being asked to come immediately to help him, Jesus says “This sickness
is not unto death, but for the glory of God” and stays where He was two days
longer. After the third day passes
Lazarus dies. It is at this time that
Jesus decides to finally go to Mary and Martha.
When Jesus comes to Bethany, Lazarus had been in the tomb for four
days. It is important to note that
Bethany (where Lazarus was buried) was a mere two miles away from Jerusalem
where Jesus was staying. When Martha
greets Him, she says accusingly “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would
not have died”, let’s pause. How many
times have we asked Jesus similar questions?
“Lord if you had only done ________ at this time in this way it would
have all been ok”. BUT, Jesus does not
operate on our schedule, He lives outside of time.
“Jesus
said to her, “I
am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he
dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do
you believe this?” John 11: 25 – 26 (NASB)
Every time our patience is tried it is often a test where
Jesus asks us in moments of doubt “Do you believe?” If we answer that question by taking things
into our own hands we are replying “NO”.
But if we wait on the Lord, our strength is renewed, our faith
reinforced and just as Lazarus was resurrected, blessing is assured. This does not mean we will never be
impatient, but in those moments we must remember:
1)
Jesus loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus and He
loves us, but like them we are not exempt from hardships.
2)
If God can conquer death, than nothing is
impossible for Him.
3)
The trials we face are not about us, but all about
God.
The resurrection of Lazarus was necessary in order for Jesus
to bring glory to God. Jesus did not
delay His arrival out of neglect; it was to eliminate all arguments that could
undermine this miracle. God is very
meticulous in how He responds to our needs.
We don’t understand how He works.
God is never dormant; He is always actively working on our behalf. We just have to be patient and know that His
is always the right time.
To being wise,
Meredith, Jennifer and Marisa
