+DEV+ The Need to Wait

Date: January 19, 2011 12:47 AM
Topic: +DEV+ The Need to Wait

The Need to Wait

"Jesus said, 'This sickness...is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it.' Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days" (John 11:4, 6).
Scripture Focus: John 11:1-7, 11-15, 20-45

Waiting is part of life. We wait at the grocery store, the bank, and the doctor's office. Many are the times and years we have waited for God. Yet consider this: sometimes God waits for us. He waits to meet our need. He waits so He can work in ways that are beyond our expectations.

Jesus gave us a clear example. When told of Lazarus' illness, He waited before meeting needs. Healing Lazarus when his sisters asked would have placed the greatest importance on their faith in Jesus. Jesus didn't want to confirm their faith, He wanted to increase it. After Mary and Martha's brother died, their situation was beyond the point of their own faith in Jesus.

That's when He arrived.

When our needs are greater than our faith in God's intervention, He may be trying to increase our faith. He sees the need we bring to Him, but He also sees the need for our faith to grow. When God is not "showing up", or when we feel most desperate for His help, wait while your faith grows and God is glorified.

Insight: Consider God's delay an opportunity for your faith to grow and for Him to be glorified in the process.