It’s too late, they thought. When Jesus finally showed up, Martha and Mary thought He was too late. The two sisters expected Jesus to come immediately, but He decided to wait instead. When He finally came, the sisters said to Him, “Lord, if you had been here on time, our brother Lazarus would not have died (John 11:21; 32).” Martha and Mary didn’t know that Jesus was never late to any of His divine appointments. Jesus was always on time, and He was never in a rush. The fact that Lazarus was already dead didn’t mean that Jesus came too late; it only meant that the timing He followed was different. Jesus’ earthly life and ministry were shaped by God the Father’s presence, love, power, and purpose. In other words, Jesus always moved in sync with His Father’s perfect timing. You see, Jesus always followed His Father’s agenda and moved according to His timing to show His works and display His glory. In John 6:38, Jesus said, “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.”
When Jesus heard that His friend Lazarus was sick, He had the power to heal him just by saying it, as He did in the past (John 4:50), but instead, Jesus waited. He waited not because He wanted Lazarus and his sisters to suffer but because the Father had a greater plan for them. As Jesus called Lazarus into life, the suffering, the pain, and the mourning of this family turned into a powerful witness of the mighty works of God through Jesus Christ in their lives (John 12:1-11).
Jesus was committed to following His Father’s directives, and I would suggest that as followers of Jesus, we should do the same. Throughout Scripture, God constantly invites us to surrender the control of our lives to Him, but unfortunately, most of us struggle to do so. Getting our desire for control out of the way to follow God’s plan and timing with our lives is not easy, but doing so is crucial for walking with Christ. Most of us will agree that having total and complete control over everything in our lives and around us is appealing. But we cannot ignore that God is always persuading us to trust Him and to patiently wait for His perfect timing. My hope and prayer is that this devo will encourage you to do so.
Today, God is still on the move, doing mighty things in His perfect timing on behalf of His people. So, let’s be reminded that yielding control of our lives to God, as Jesus did, enables us to be used for the glory of His Name.
Esteban Tapia
Teaching Pastor