“Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was.” (John 11:5-6)
When Jesus’ friend Lazarus was sick, everyone must have expected Jesus to go right away to help him. Lazarus’s sisters, Mary and Martha, had sent the alarming message of their brother’s serious illness to Jesus because they hoped that He would come quickly and heal him. But, strangely, Jesus did not go to help Lazarus right away. Two days went by, and Lazarus had died before Jesus and disciples began the journey to Lazarus’s home at Bethany.
No one seemed to understand why Jesus had waited so long, allowing Lazarus to die. Before Jesus even reached the place where Lazarus lived, first Martha and then Mary sadly came to meet Him. Greatly disappointed, they told Jesus that if He had come earlier to heal Lazarus, their brother would not have died. Although Mary and Martha did not understand why Jesus allowed such a terrible thing to happen, Jesus had a special reason for not coming earlier to heal Lazarus.
Jesus asked that someone roll away the tombstone in front of the place where the body of Lazarus had been buried. Then Jesus called out, “Lazarus, come forth.” Suddenly, the man who had been dead walked out of the tomb. Jesus had done something better than just making a sick person well. He had brought a dead man back to life! Jesus knew what was best.
Even though sometimes you may not understand why God allows things to happen as He does, God always knows what is best for you, too. Even though you may not understand why God doesn’t answer your prayers the way you would like, He wants you to trust Him (Proverbs 3:5-6). He always has a special reason for answering your prayers in the way that He does. Even though you, just like Mary and Martha, may become disappointed when God does not answer your prayers in the way that you expect Him to, God often has something better planned for you than you can imagine. “All things work together for good to them that love God” (Romans 8:28).
God knows what is best for you.
My Response:
» Do I believe that God knows what is best for me?
» Do I trust God to do what is best even when He seems to allow bad things to happen?