Trust His timing

It is said that God is never late, never early but He is always right on time. If you are like me, you may wonder why God does not operate on your timing. Sometimes, we want God to do things at a particular time, at a particular pace and in a particular way. We give God guidelines to operate. But, God is sovereign and we cannot create a jurisdiction for His operation. We need to trust in His abilities to save, to help, to deliver and to provide. We should rely on Him to show up at the right time. As we wait for Him, we need to prepare ourselves and be ready. In the parable of the 10 virgins (Matthew 25), at the right time, the bridegroom showed up but 5 virgins were not ready. They had not prepared for the Lord. When we understand that God’s timing is the best, we will never be anxious when things do not go our way. “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.(John 11:21) In John 11, Lazarus, a friend of Jesus fell sick and Jesus was informed about it. Naturally,  we would expect Jesus to go quickly and heal Lazarus or even to speak the word as He had done in the past for Lazarus to be healed. In John 11:14, “When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” If the sickness is not unto death, then fine! But, Lazarus died. Jesus waited for two more days and decided to show up. Why will He do that? Was Lazarus not His friend? Why did Jesus wait for him to die? These are the questions that probably Mary and Martha, the siblings of Lazarus kept asking. When Jesus finally arrived in the city, “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:21). Similarly, “When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:32). Mary and Martha trusted that Jesus would have healed their brother if Jesus had arrived in time. But, that was their time. It was not Jesus’ time. When the whole community saw how Jesus loved Lazarus (for Jesus wept), they wondered, why was He late? I would have asked the same question as well. Why did Jesus show up after Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days? His body could probably be going through decomposition. But wait! Jesus was not late. Jesus went to the burial site and requested for the stone blocking the tomb to be rolled away (John 11:39). “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” (John 11:40) “When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” (John 11:43‭-‬44) Imagine the joy and the celebration that took place. The mourning period was turned to joy, Lazarus came out without any blemish. Jesus was right on time to show the people the glory of God. What a joy!  Dear God, help us to trust in your timing. May we understand that if we put our trust in You, we should also trust that Your timing is perfect.

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