God’s Plan and God’s Timetable

When He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was.
–John 11:6

In John 11, we find the famous story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. But before the miracle, there was difficulty. Verses 1–3 say, “A certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, ‘Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.’” Jesus loved Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. They were his close friends. So it was only natural that the sisters would contact Jesus when Lazarus was sick. But the fact that Jesus loved them did not exempt them from problems.

When Mary and Martha asked Jesus for help, He “stayed two days longer in the place where He was” (v. 6). Why would Jesus not immediately answer a request for help from people He had a special love for? For that matter, why doesn’t Jesus immediately answer our requests for help when we face problems?

It wasn’t a lack of knowledge about Lazarus’s situation that kept Jesus from going to Bethany and healing Lazarus. Jesus knew what was happening in Lazarus’s life, just as He knows about the predicament you are in right now. It also wasn’t a lack of ability that kept Jesus from healing Lazarus; in a moment, He could have healed him and prevented his death. Similarly, it’s not a lack of power that is keeping God from intervening in your situation. Think about it: What situation in your life could God not change in an instant if He wanted to? And it certainly wasn’t a lack of love that kept Jesus from healing Lazarus. In the same way, it’s not a lack of love that keeps God from intervening in your situation.

The fact is, Jesus did not heal Lazarus’s illness because death was part of God’s plan for Lazarus. Many times God’s plan is different than our plan, and His timetable is different than our timetable.

We are guaranteed to experience problems in this life, and God may not help us when or how we think He should. But just as He had a plan for Lazarus, He has a plan for us–a plan that leads to life.

Today’s devotion is adapted from “A Tale from the Crypt,” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2015.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.