«So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was» (John 11:6).
Today, more than seeing how we can manage our time, we will see the importance of trusting in God’s time.
Just as happened on other occasions when Jesus’s behavior seemed somewhat incomprehensible, this verse presents us with a rather illogical reaction.
We know that Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus in a special way. However, Jesus did not seem to be upset by the news of Lazarus ‘s illness. When He finally arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days.
Everything seemed lost.
Martha showed that she believed Jesus could have done something for her brother in the past, telling Jesus that Lazarus would not have died if He, Jesus, had been there. She also showed that she believed Jesus could do something in the future, in the resurrection of the last day. However, she apparently did not understand that Jesus wanted and could do something in the present.
Pastor David Asscherick made a deeper and more complete analysis of this story in his sermon, «What Do You Expect?» and made me reflect on how many times we behave in the same way as Martha did.
We believe in the stories of the Bible, in the miracles of the past, and we wait as Adventists for the Second Coming and all the wonders promised, but we run the risk of forgetting that Jesus wants to do something for us in the present.
We limit God, who is above time—something so mundane—to our small mentality. We keep our deadlines, our probabilistic calculations, and our strict control of time and events in mind and forget that His plans and times exceed any human eventuality and finite thinking.
In this story, Jesus thought about the education of His disciples who would represent Him to the world. “For their sake He permitted Lazarus to die. Had He restored him from illness to health, the miracle that is the most positive evidence of His divine character, would not have been performed” (The Desire of Ages, ch. 58, p. 528).
What will it be like if you have to wait “two days” in your life for God to manifest Himself?
Let us trust in His timetable which is always the best.