Steve Martin
“When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth." The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go." (John 11:43-44, NASU)
Lazarus was dead. Buried in the cave tomb. It had been four days after Yeshua (Jesus) had been told by the time He finally got there. And yet He was in no hurry to get to him. When it was time, it was time.
To give a good portion of the story as written in the Word, for the fuller picture, John tells it this way.
“Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, " Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick." But when Jesus heard this, He said, "This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it."
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was. hen after this He said to the disciples, " Let us go to Judea again." The disciples said to Him, " Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?" Jesus answered, " Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. "But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."
This He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep." The disciples then said to Him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover." Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep. So Jesus then said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him." Therefore Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, so that we may die with Him."
So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off; and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother. Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house. Martha then said to Jesus, " Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. "Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to Him, " I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day."
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?" She said to Him, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world." (John 11:1-27, NASU)
Lazarus was a good friend of Jesus. His sisters Martha and Miriam (Mary) were also close to Yeshua and were thus expecting Him to come as soon as He had heard of their brother’s death. But in order to show them, the disciples, those gathered in Jerusalem at the time, and later have this dramatic, miraculous event proclaimed to all the world through this written Word centuries later…Jesus came when it was time for Him.
He was in no hurry. He wasn’t going to miss doing His Father’s will. He knew when it was time to go and bring resurrection life.
It amazes me how the Lord is always on time. We think there are moments in our life when He is late; when He missed it; when our internal thoughts and often spoken words are, “If only it had happened when it was supposed to happen, it would have turned out right. If only He had done something when He should have done it.”
But because we don’t see the full picture, and God our Father does, He moves when it is the right time to move. He makes His move when it is exactly the right time. The Holy Spirit is always on time.
As with me on many occasions, it is the same for you I would imagine. You had prayed. You had sought. You have even worried, believing the Lord hasn’t heard, He isn’t moving, and it will never happen when it should have happened. It may even be dead and gone. Over and out.
You may even think that God Almighty, Whom we often consider is silent when it comes to something we are fully desirous of, isn’t paying attention at all to us.
But He is. Because He knows. He will do it in His time. And it will be the right time.
Don’t lose patience. Keep on keeping on. (Remember that saying decades ago?) Keep believing, keep seeking, keep looking up to the One Who knows when, where, how long, and how much.
All is in His control. Because He is Love, His promises are true, His acts are just, and HE WILL BE ON TIME. He is always on time, and you will see it happen for you too.
Shalom and ahava (peace and love in Hebrew).
Now think on this,
Steve Martin
Founder/President
Love For His People, Inc.
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Now Think On This #391 - in the year of our Lord 02.21.19 – “Always On Time” – Thursday, 5:55 am
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