Today God is First

I felt compelled to share this, as all too often we can ask when we should not. This came from titled Today God is First. Oct. 7th, 2008

God-Inspired Delays John 11:6 Yet when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He
stayed where He was two more days. Delays in our life are not always easy to
handle or to reconcile in our minds. Often, when God does not answer our prayers
in the time that we feel He should, we appoint all sorts of characteristics to
God's nature that imply He does not care. Such was the case with Lazarus'
sisters when Lazarus became ill and died. Jesus was a close friend to Lazarus
and his two sisters, Mary and Martha. (Mary, you may recall, was the woman who
came and poured perfume on Jesus' feet.) When Jesus arrived two days later,
Martha shamed Him by saying, "If You had come he would not have died." She
implied that He didn't care enough to come when sent for. It was a matter of
priorities for Jesus, not lack of love. God often has to delay His work in us in
order to accomplish something for His purposes that can be achieved only in the
delay. Jesus had to let Lazarus die in order for the miracle that was about to
take place to have its full effect. If Jesus had simply healed a sick man, the
impact of the miracle would not have been as newsworthy as resurrecting a man
who had been dead for four days. This is Jesus' greatest "public relations act"
of His whole ministry. What many do not realize is that the key to the whole
story is in the next chapter. Many people, because they had heard that He had
given this miraculous sign, went out to meet Him. So the Pharisees said to one
another, "See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone
after Him!" (John 12:18-19) If Jesus had not raised Lazarus from the dead, there
would have been no crowds to cheer the Lord when He came into Jerusalem riding
on a donkey. God often sets the stage so that His glory is revealed through the
events that He orchestrates. He did this with Moses and Pharaoh, allowing delay
after delay for release of the Israelites from Egypt. He did this with Abraham
and Sarah for the promised child, Isaac. God granted Sarah a baby past the age
of childbearing in order to demonstrate His power. God did this in my own life.
He delayed the fulfillment of what I believed He called me to do for several
years. But the delays provided the necessary preparation and greater glory that
God was to receive. My friend, don't take the delays lightly. Do not faint as
God places you in what seems to be a holding pattern. God is at work. God knows
the purposes for His delays. Don't give up, for they are for His greater glory;
so we need to remain faithful.

God Bless and have a great week!