Today’s Bible Verse

Now a certain man named Lazarus was ill. He was of Bethany, the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived. This Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped His feet with her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was [now] sick. So the sisters sent to Him, saying, Lord, he whom You love [so well] is sick. When Jesus received the message, He said, This sickness is not to end in death; but [on the contrary] it is to honor God and to promote His glory, that the Son of God may be glorified through (by) it. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. [They were His dear friends, and He held them in loving esteem.] Therefore [even] when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He still stayed two days longer in the same place where He was. Then after that interval, He said to His disciples, Let us go back again to Judea.

John 11:1-7 (AMPC)

For Our Good and For His Glory

Jesus delayed His departure for four long days, while Lazarus, the one whom He loved, grew sick and died.  His delay was in direct response to an urgent request made by Mary and Martha, Lazarus’ sisters.  Based on their request and His delay, we can infer that they believed Jesus said no and so they went on their way.  I would imagine that they left the presence of Jesus and the disciples feeling confused, hurt, disappointed, and grieved.  I find it interesting that even though Jesus waited and let Lazarus die, He did not leave Mary and Martha without an answer. He sent them both back with an important message: an explanation as to why He chose not to heal Lazarus, why He did not grant the sisters’ request, and why He let Lazarus die.  The answer Jesus gives these sisters is the same answer He gives us still today; It was but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God might be glorified through it.

In my experience, when God is silent, when He delays in His response, or when it seems our most fervent prayers go unanswered, God is either protecting us from something, preserving us for something else, or He desires to be glorified in the process; but nevertheless, it is all part of His supernatural plan and provision for our lives!

“For the glory of God” (John 11:4) was Jesus’ reasoning.  God being glorified was most important to Jesus (John 12:28), and it is what must be most important to us. God’s glory is always for our best. His glory is always for our greater good. 

“For the glory of God” was the same answer Jesus gave His apostles in John 9:4, when asked why a man was born blind.  Surely the man’s parents asked for a healthy baby boy. And surely, once they realized their son could not see, they prayed for him to be given sight. But to each of those prayers, God’s answer SEEMED to be no versus not now. Why did God allow the boy’s blindness? Why did He wait decades before giving him sight? Why did He delay in answering the parents’ prayers? Here is Jesus’ answer, “It was so that the works of God might be displayed in him” (John 9:3). The man’s blindness was for his good, because his blindness would one day become the vehicle for him to bring glory to God (John 9:35-38). (Marques D. Farmer)

An Uncommon Life

If Jesus does not answer our requests, it is because unlike us, He sees our greater need.  In the story of Lazarus’ death, more than a healer, they needed a Savior; more than a cure, they needed His cross.  Lazarus’s death and his resurrection was the final act that triggered Caiaphas and the Pharisees to solidify their plot to capture and crucify Jesus, catapulting into action Jesus’ journey to the Cross, resulting in His death, burial, resurrection AND OUR SALVATION.

So, what may seem to be a “delay” or even a “no” to our prayers, may be a “yes” to His greater plan and purpose; so it was for Mary and Martha; so it was for Lazarus; and so it is for us.

Today’s Declaration

I declare my surrender. God, let Your glory come first in m life; may it come before my needs, my perspectives, my comfort, and even before what I perceive to be for my own good. God, strengthen me in patience, humility, and self-denial. Break me free from complacency, doubt, and undetected forms of pride. Draw me closer to You.

Today’s Bible Reading

• Old Testament: 2 Chronicles 30-33; Psalms 149
• New Testament: Luke 12:35-48; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13