Does God’s Timetable vs. Your Timetable?    

Do you get disappointed with God’s timetable sometime? We read in John 11 how Mary and Martha were disappointed and thought all hope was gone when Jesus didn’t come when they called for him to come heal their beloved brother, Lazarus. Jesus had healed others but Jesus wasn’t coming to heal their brother. Jesus loved Mary, Martha and Lazarus, however, he had a different agenda for something even greater in that Lazarus would be raised from the dead and so that God’s Son would be glorified through it.

Two days later Jesus told his disciples that it was time to go to Judea to see Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. They learned when they arrived Lazarus had been dead four days. Martha told Jesus that if he had come sooner her brother would not have died. Nevertheless, Jesus went to the grave deeply moved, asking to have the stone removed from the tomb. Martha said, “But Lord, he’s been dead four days and stinketh”. Jesus told her “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God”. Then Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out” and Lazarus came out of the tomb.

 We can learn several lessons from this story. When we pray asking God for something, we often get discouraged as Mary and Martha did because he does not answer immediately or on our timetable or in the way we expected. Jesus had the opportunity to heal and teach during those two days. Jesus was God’s Son, knowing the Father’s plan was to glorify his Son by not healing Lazarus but raising Lazarus from the dead. Isn‘t it great that when we think God is four days late by our timetable, He is still on time?  

Many parents and grandparents are in God’s waiting room with you, you are not alone. However, we have to continue trusting God will answer our prayers in His way and in His timing, He doesn’t need our help, He only needs us to trust Him. Our prayers may not even be answered in our lifetime but we have to wait for God’s perfect timing.

Our finite minds simply cannot grasp God’s infinite ways for answering our prayers. God often needs to work in our hearts, our character or the person for whom we are praying before he can answer our prayers. God’s way and timing is always perfect, he knows best, even when we think he is late, He is still on time.  

• Is God’s timetable too slow for you at times?
• Are you getting tired of waiting on God to answer your prayers?
• Are you disappointed and frustrated because God is not answering on your timetable?
• Does God want to develop spiritual growth in your life or in the lives of your loved ones before He is ready to answer?
• How do you respond when you are in the waiting room waiting for your prayer to be answered?

Prayer: Dear Father, I want to thank you for the privilege to bring my concerns to you. Give me patience as I wait for you to work out your plan and your timing to answer my prayers. Help me to trust you and your Word as I wait for your answers to my prayers. In Jesus Name, Amen 

By Lillian Penner

©2015 Penner

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