Jesus Is Never Late

John 11:3-7 Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.” When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”

How often have we cried out to the Lord during times of desperation? How often did we feel like God was either not hearing our prayers or just was not going to answer "this time"? We see from these verses that Jesus knew about Lazarus' situation, as it was told to Him; yet, He chose to stay where He was for a couple of more days. God chose to point out in this chapter that Mary, Lazarus' sister, was the same Mary who anointed Jesus with oil and wiped His feet with her hair. In other words, the request came from someone who believed in Him and worshiped Him. In spite of this, Jesus still delayed His journey. The message was even one of an attempt to cause Jesus to come quickly, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick." The fact of the matter is that Jesus knew exactly when He needed to be there to fulfill Mary's request. There will be times when we cry out to the Lord during heavy suffering. The Lord's delay in answering is only a delay based on His timing, not ours. Jesus had a greater purpose in not healing Lazarus. He had already healed many. This time, He would glorify God by raising Lazarus from the dead; which would be a greater miracle, and prove that He was greater than death and the One who gives life. When it was all said and done, He would demonstrate that He arrived and answered Mary's prayer just in time. Regardless of what we go through in life, God is never later in answering our prayers. When circumstances seem dire and hopeless because God does not seem to want to answer, know that the Lord does not operate on our timetable. Our feeble attempts at coaxing Him to answer according to our will does not deter Him from answering in accordance with His will. His timing is ALWAYS perfect, and Jesus is NEVER late.

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Romans 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive His free gift of salvation today (Romans 10:13).