WHEN GOD HAS YOU "WAIT"

John 11:1-17

WHEN GOD SAYS “WAIT”

Intro: If you are anything like me, you hate to wait. When I come to a red light, I will pick the lane with the fewest cars. When I go to the store, I will look for the check out line containing the fewest people. When I am using the microwave, I will stop it a few seconds before the timer reaches zero. When I step in an elevator and press the button for the floor I want, I will hit the close door button because I don’t want to wait for it to close. When I use an escalator, I will walk up it, instead of waiting for it to take me up. When I have an appointment with someone, I want that person to be on time. When I make a phone call, I do not want to be put on hold. I think you get the picture: I hate to wait!

Regardless of what I want or like, waiting is a part of life. I have to wait in traffic. I have to wait in the doctor’s office. I have to wait in the elevator. I have to wait on the phone. I have to wait on the microwave. There are times when we just have to wait. Statisticians have calculated that the average person will spend six months of their lives waiting on traffic lights and about five years waiting in lines. Sometimes you just have to wait.

Waiting is a part of living in this world. It is also a part of living for the Lord. Did you know there are times when God will make you wait? There are times in our lives when we pray and the Lord seems to answer us almost immediately. There are times when we may not get the answer we want, but it still seems as if God moves swiftly in the situation. But, there are times when God makes us wait.

You see, there are three possible answers to the prayers we pray.

· God may say “Yes!” – We like it when He says “yes” to our requests. When we pray according to His will that will always be the answer we will receive. “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him,” 1 John 5:14-15. We can ask anything we please, but if it isn’t His will, it will never happen. If it is His will, it cannot be prevented from coming to pass. Ephesians 1:11 says, He “…worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.”

· God may say “No!” – We do not like it when God refuses to grant our requests, but there are times when He will not give us the things we desire. “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts,” James 4:3. Often, we will asks for things that are not God’s will for our lives. He can see farther down the road than we can, and He knows what is best for us. Can you imagine how horrible your life would be if God really did give you everything you asked Him for?

“When children first start to color, they have two problems. First, they might choose colors that are inappropriate. Secondly, once the colors are chosen, they have a difficult time keeping the colors within the boundary lines. As they mature and keep on coloring, they learn to keep within the guidelines and to choose the appropriate colors, resulting in a satisfying picture. As children of our Heavenly Father, our prayer life often resembles a child’s coloring. At first, we don’t know what to pray for nor do our prayers stay within the guidelines of His will. As we mature and continue praying, though, we pray for the right things and stay within His will, resulting in a satisfying prayer life.”

There are times when you will have to accept God’s “No!” You may not like it, but you will either accept it, or you will live your life in disappointment and defeat!

· God may says “Wait!” – For me, this is the hardest answer of all! In case I didn’t tell you, I hate to wait! There are times when we ask for things whose time has not arrived. We are on target with His will, but we are not on board with His timing. Now, don’t get me wrong; He heard you when you prayed, and He is moving in your situation, but He is doing it on His schedule and not yours.

There will be times in life when His answers, at least from our perspective, seem delayed. That is the case in the passage before us today. The times when God says, “Wait!” are the times I want to examine today.

I. A SERIOUS REQUEST-VS. 1-3

Mary and Martha send word to Jesus that His friend Lazarus is sick. Evidently, they are concerned that Lazarus may die and they want the Lord to come and heal Him, vv. 21, 32.

After all, Jesus had healed total strangers. It only makes sense that He would run to the aid of a true friend.

These folks did what you are supposed to do when there is a need in your life. It is God’s desire that we call on Him.

Philippians 4:6 “6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”

Jeremiah 33:3 KJV 1900

3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

Luke 18:1 “1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;”

They had a serious request! Let’s face it, when we have a need, it is always serious to us! They did what they were supposed to do: they took their burden to Jesus.

Let me remind you that God is not obligated to do what you ask Him to do. God is not obligated to do what you tell Him to do. In fact, God does not have to do anything!

That is a lesson they learned through these events and it is a lesson we need to learn as well.

  I.  A Serious Request

II. A SURPRISING RESPONSE-VS. 4-17

A. The Waiting In His Response-vs. 5-6

– These two verses do not seem to go together. We are told that Jesus “loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus”, then we are told, “when He had heard that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was.”

Of course, we know that Jesus did not have to be there to heal,

Ill. The Centurion’s servant - Matt. 8:5-13.

Mary and Martha thought He did, vv. 21, 32. Let’s not be too hard on them. If we can’t see the hand of God moving in response to our requests, immediately, and according to our request, we think He isn’t working at all.

B. The Wisdom In His Response-vs. 11-14

The Lord was able to see what the sisters and the disciples could not see. He was able to see beyond the crisis of the moment to the glory God would receive through the crisis.

He knew what was on the other side of the pain, the problems and the pressure. He knew the outcome before the crisis even reached its peak.

God knows more about our situation than we do.

Proverbs 15:3 KJV 1900

3 The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Beholding the evil and the good.

Our duty is to learn to trust Him, even when we cannot figure out what He is doing and why He is doing it.

The Lord knows the outcome of our crisis before our crisis is even born. Our sole duty in regard to the waiting times of life is summed up in the words of Jesus in Mark 11:22, when He said, “Have faith in God.”

In John 14:1, He said it this way, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.”

The Psalmist said in Psalm 62:8, “Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.”

  I.  A Serious Request

 II.  A Surprising Response

III. THEIR STUNNED REACTION-VS. 18-33

When the answer Martha and Mary sought from Jesus didn’t come when they expected it, these women were stunned. When Jesus did show up, it appeared to them that it was far too late for anything good to come out of the situation.

Notice their reaction to what they perceived to be the late arrival of the Lord.

A. They Reacted In Defeat-vs. 20-24

Their pleas had been unanswered and they were defeated, discouraged and distressed. I know how they feel, don’t you? It is easy to get discouraged when the Lord doesn’t do things in our way, in our time.

Sadly, a lot of Christians will lose the battle right here! They will get mad at God when He doesn’t do as they say, and they will get on the outs with Him; some will even quit on Him.

When people give up on God, they usually miss the greatest of His miracles! It’s always too soon to quit!

B. They Reacted In Devotion-vs. 22-27

While events did not go as they wanted; while their brother had not been healed, but was dead, these two sisters expressed their faith in the Lord anyway.

Notice:

1.) Faith-vs. 22 – In spite of the circumstances she faced, Martha still believed in the power of her God.

2.) Hope-vs. 23-24 – Martha were able to look beyond the present to a day when the Lord would fulfill all His promises to His people. The situation might look grim right now, but faith allowed Martha to see a better, brighter day, Hebrews 11:1 “1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

3.) Worship-vs. 27, 32 – Martha confessed her faith in the Person and Power of the Lord Jesus. She was saying, “Lord, I know things look bad, but I also know You are God and that You have a plan. I trust you!”

God will bless this attitude in our lives! Even when things don’t go as we plan or want them to, we must get to the place where we can still exalt Jesus and believe God!

David – 2 Sam. 12:14-23; Ill. Stephen – Acts 7:55-60; Ill. Hannah – 1 Sam. 1:1-28. There are times when it is hard to wait on God, but it is always worth the wait, Isaiah 40:31 “31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings as eagles; They shall run, and not be weary; And they shall walk, and not faint.”

When God says, “Wait”, and His response to your request leaves you stunned in your situation, keep believing, keep trusting, and wait on Him, In His time, and His way, He will show up for your good and His glory!

  I.  A Serious Request

 II.  A Surprising Response

III.  A Stunned Reaction

IV. A SHOCKING RESULT-VS. 34-44

When the Lord did show up, He truly showed out! He gave everyone involved in that situation a revelation of His power and His glory.

A.  It Was Unexpected

Lazarus was dead and everyone expected him to stay that way, v. 39. But, he didn’t! One word from Jesus and the dead man came back to life and walked out of the tomb! The Lord moved in an unexpected way.

We must not attempt to corral God, He always works in ways we could never imagine, 1 Cor. 2:9; Eph. 3:20. He did that for them and He does the same thing for us! He is always doing things in an unexpected fashion!

B.  It Was Unprecedented

This was an entirely new thing! God hasn’t run out of options, He is able to handle your problem! (Ill. Matthew 28:18 “18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”

Jesus waited until Lazarus was dead so that their impression of Him would not be limited to healing alone. He wanted them to know that He not only had the power to Heal, but that He also had the power to raise the dead! They would have never known that if Lazarus had never died.

This truth can be seen throughout the pages of the Word of God.

Ill. Disciples in the storm; three Hebrews in furnace; Daniel in lion’s den; Widow and meal barrel.

Because Lazarus was sick, and because the Lord delayed His arrival until Lazarus was dead and buried, they knew Jesus in a way they could have never known Him under any other circumstances!

Conclusion:

Have you been told to wait? If so, how is your faith, hope and worship?

In her book, The Hiding Place, Corrie ten Boom tells of a night when German and English planes were dogfighting above them in the skies over Holland. After hearing her sister Betsie stirring in the kitchen, Corrie raced down. For an hour, they sipped tea together until the sky was silent. Corrie returned to her bed in a darkened room. She ran her hand over the pillow and felt a piece of metal. There was a ten-inch piece of metal that had fallen onto her bed. She rushed to tell Betsie:

“Betsie, if I hadn’t heard you in the kitchen…”

But Betsie put a finger on my mouth. “Don’t say it, Corrie! There are no ‘ifs’ in God’s world. And no places that are safer than other places. The center of His will is our only safety. O Corrie, let us pray that we may always know it!”

There are no “ifs” in God’s plans, but sometimes, there are “waits”. When He says, “Wait”, we must continue to trust Him, to look to Him and to wait on Him until He does whatever it is that He desires to do in our lives.

Blessed are the people who learn to wait on the Lord! “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint,” Isa. 40:31.

Nowhere is this truer than in the spiritual realm. What we see as delays is just the Lord getting it right!

We must remember that while God is rarely early, He is never late! He is always right on time: His, not ours!