As a believing Christian, we know that God is powerful and sovereign, and mighty. We have no problem with this concept- not until His plan suddenly ceases to go along with our own. We live in an impressively self-centered world. We have iPads, iPhones, and I mentalities. We simply want what we want. So much so, that sometimes we don't desire God's plan as much as we want our own way. Sadly enough, this isn't a new concept.
If we look at chapter 11 in the book of John, we find some people whose plans were most defiantly flipped upside down by God.
Jesus (the Son of GOD), had some very close friends who were siblings- Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. When Lazarus fell ill, Mary and Martha immediately sent word to Jesus, fully expecting Jesus to rush to heal him. Very much like the rest of us, the sisters didn't only bring their problem to Jesus, they brought their own solution.
However, Jesus had a much bigger plan. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 3:20 that the plans of God are "above all that we could ask or imagine". In the midst of the chaos that often consumes our lives, we sometimes confine God to the realm of things that we understand- and what a dangerous thing that is! When Mary and Martha expected Jesus to rush to heal their brother, Jesus chose to wait two entire days before making the 20-mile journey to their city.
During that time, Lazarus died. Once Jesus finally did make it to the city, the sisters were in mourning. Interestingly enough, their faith remained unshaken. They realized that Jesus 's intervention could have prevented their brother's death (John 10:21,32), and if my best guess is worth anything they wondered why He had chosen not to.
Sometimes when we plead for God to intervein and he chooses not to, we feel forgotten. We feel alone and we question our worth- when what we should be doing is watching to see what He's about to do next. Sometimes, we get too fixated on the fact that God went "off script" and didn't handle a situation the way we feel like He should have that we almost miss the miracle that He is about to do in our lives.
Standing outside of the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus asked for the stone to be rolled away. Martha, a very practical soul who reminds me far too much of myself, called out to Jesus and appears to rebuke him. There are times in our lives where we are more focused on how we didn't get our way than on the miracle that God is about to do. Martha made a seemingly practical point after all her brother had been dead and buried for four days.
Thankfully, a practical point on our part has yet to stop Jesus.
God's plans may not look like ours. His ways may not take the same path as ours. His purpose may even have goals like ours. But so far? God's plans just don't disappoint like mine.
Despite the fact that Jesus chose not to come immediately to the family's rescue, four days later He spoke words that rocked the world: "Lazarus, come forth", and Lazarus came out of the grave. Often times, when God doesn't solve our problems like we think that He should, we assume that we are of little importance. It's easy to see why the sisters may have felt ignored. However, Jesus's decision to wait gave an entire town an opportunity to witness the power of God. When we want our way more than God's wisdom, we seek to deprive others of the chance to learn about God's power.Jesus gave another command that day: He said of Lazarus"Unbind him, and let him go". What kind of expectations do we need to let go? Are you allowing your idea of what God needs to do bind you and keep you from resting in his plans?
