John Chapter 11: Verses 5-7 (NIV)
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
John Chapter 11: Verses 21-22 (NIV)
“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
When we are needing help and we call out to God in prayer, we hope His response will be immediate. That’s why Mary and Martha sent for Jesus. The Bible tells us that Jesus loved His friends and yet He did not set off straight away; the delay was deliberate. Jesus knew what the outcome would be, and He knew what He was going to do. Everything was in hand.
But Martha didn’t know the plan. She told Jesus what she was thinking, and yet there is still a sense of hope in what she said. She didn’t run away from Jesus in her disappointment, she ran out to Him.
Perhaps we too sometimes feel disappointed if we don’t seem to get the answer to our prayer that we hoped for. Jesus loves us as much as He loved Mary, Martha and Lazarus so we need to have the same attitude as Martha, and trust that however dire our circumstances seem to us, Jesus still knows what He is doing.
Dear Lord,
Thank You for the lesson from Martha, who ran to Jesus in her distress and disappointment. Help me to do the same. I ask in Jesus’ Name. Amen.