While We Are Waiting in the Waiting Room

Hi Standers! It's time once again. Here's another devotional written by Ruth from IN. Read on and stay encouraged! ************************* I believe that for those walking in obedience to Christ, waiting is perhaps one of the most difficult things. We wait on God for so many things... praying in faith that He will come through for us, yet not seeing answers for days, weeks, months... and in many cases, even years. Has God not heard us? Does He not care? Is He not capable of doing that which we ask? I came across an interesting passage of Scripture that speaks to this very issue. Jesus' friend Lazarus has become gravely ill and his sisters, Mary and Martha, have sent word to Jesus, so that He might come and heal Lazarus. When he [Jesus] heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it." 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 11:4-7 If you've never read this story before, you might expect that last sentence to read somewhat differently... maybe more like this: "Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he rushed to be with them so that he might heal Lazarus as quickly as possible." But that's not what the verse says. This word "so" could also be translated, "therefore.""Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Therefore, when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days." He waited because He loved them. There are countless examples in Scripture of God choosing to wait before He intervenes: Goliath tormented the Israelite soldiers for 40 days before God brought a young boy named David to show that God is greater than any giant. The Israelites were in Egypt for 400 years before God brought them out of slavery. Abraham waited for 25 years before God gave him the son that He had promised. Daniel could have been rescued from the king BEFORE he got thrown into the den of lions, instead God waited until Daniel was actually IN the lion's den before He rescued him; and the same with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who were thrown into the fiery furnace. There is story after story after story in the Bible of God choosing to wait before He acts. God often waits so that His power may be shown in a more spectacular way. This is certainly the case in all of the above examples, and even in the story of Lazarus. God chose to wait long enough so that no one could dispute the intervention of the divine: no one but God could use a young boy to defeat a giant; no one but God could rescue a people enslaved by the most powerful country in the world; no one but God could cause a 90 year-old-woman to give birth; no one but God could shut the mouths of hungry lions, or cause three men to walk about in a fire unscathed. No one but God could cause a man who had been dead for four days to come back to life again. God loves us enough to want to teach us, to change us into the people that He desires us to be. What if a parent tells their children that they cannot eat their dessert until they had their dinner? Are they trying to punish their kids? Probably not. We want children to eat nutritious food before they have their special dessert. If they had their dessert first, they might not eat the nutritious food. Parents delay dessert because they love their kids. God loves us far more than any earthly parent will ever love their child. He tarries in answering our requests because He loves us enough to want us to change, to learn to trust Him, to truly believe in Him. He wants to give us the nutritious sustenance that our faith needs to grow strong. Ultimately, Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. "Take away the stone," he said. "But Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days." Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me." When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth wrapped around his face. Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go." John 11:39-44 I am thankful that God does hear. And I choose to be thankful that often He waits to answer so that His power may be made known, that we may marvel at His awesome might... and believe. I'm thankful that He loves me enough to wait to answer my prayers in His timetable, and not mine.