Disappointment With God, Part 2

Disappointment with God comes from His delays.

Jesus came, but He came too late. At least that’s what Martha thought.

When Martha and Mary realized that Lazarus’ illness was serious, they sent Jesus a message: “The one You love is sick.” The message was simple, in the kind of shorthand we use with friends. There was no need to beg or even explain. Jesus would understand and come running.

He was only one day’s journey away, so there was time for Him to come and do for their brother what He had done for so many others: heal and restore. But Jesus didn’t come. He could have. In fact, the scripture says He stayed away from Bethany on purpose.

So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was (John 11:6).

Forced to cope with anxiety and grief without their Friend, Martha and Mary must have felt ignored. Staying away when He knew how much they needed Him—it seemed a strange way to treat people you love. And Jesus did love them. The Bible tells us so.

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus (John 11:5).

Where have You been? That’s the implied question in Martha’s greeting when she ran down the road to meet Jesus. It was too late. Lazarus was gone, dead and buried, and she was terribly disappointed. It was a reasonable question, borne of pain and sanctified by the words of faith that followed.

Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You (John 11:21-22).

Martha had not lost her confidence in Jesus, but she did want to know why He had let them down. Jesus did not mind the question. In fact, He welcomed it as a teaching opportunity, because part of the purpose of the delay was for Martha (and Mary and the disciples and the mourners in Bethany and you and me) to learn a big thing about Him.

Jesus answered Martha’s question with one of His own. Do you believe? (John 11:25).

Then He gently guided her from disappointment to comprehension of what few others yet understood. Her overwhelmingly painful circumstances had brought her to a place where what she had only dimly grasped earlier now became her heartfelt conviction.

Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God (John 11:27).

Martha knew this even before she saw her brother stumble out of his burial cave wrapped in his graveclothes. Her beloved brother, standing there blinking in the sunlight, was a living testimony that what Jesus had said to her was true.

I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die (John 11:25-26).

Jesus’ goal was much bigger than bringing a quick end to a family crisis. Lazarus’ sickness, death, and resurrection were part of His great and good plan: that the Son of God may be glorified through it (John 11:4).

The divine delays that frustrate you and tempt you to question God’s goodness are part of His plan. When you think He’s too late, He’s simply waiting for the moment you have exhausted your own resources and are ready to accept that only He can fix broken people, heal fractured relationships, and restore dead hopes. The moment when, like Martha, you are ready to grow.

Jesus is always on time. On His own time, that is. He acts and works when we are ready, when He knows it will be best for us, and when He will receive the most glory. That was the point of His delay in helping Martha, and the point of His delay when you are begging Him to come and help you right this minute.

Do you believe?