John 11:4

Waiting for God’s perfect fullness of time to come, Jesus does not immediately go to the side of His beloved Lazarus. There was more at stake than merely just the healing of His friend – God and His Son were to be glorified through it all therefore our Lord waited. If I had been Mary or Martha my feelings would have been hurt - shows you just how weak I am! “Why didn’t Jesus come quickly” - I would whine. “Was something more important or urgent than healing His friend?” “Doesn’t He love me or care about me and my family?” And on and on the questions would come if not verbally at least mentally! Yet it was in the waiting that Jesus and the Father would receive the glory. I am reminded of the surety of the following proverb and confident both Mary and Martha initially felt the sting of the first half of the verse:

12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. Prov 13:12 (NIV)

This is a wonderful point we can apply to our own lives as well. If the circumstances do not readily change and the fire of affliction keeps on burning, are we choosing to bring glory to the Father and Son through it all? Or are we whiny britches and complainers showing forth no fruit and bringing forth no glory for the King of kings? I am reminded of Paul’s words in Romans commanding us to the following:

12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12 (NIV)

We are also told that our complaining and arguing must stop (and I am sure that would include whining as well!). Grumbling is not an attribute for a child of the King! How in the world do these traits glorify and magnify our Lord? They certainly do not seem winsome or wooing! His desire is for every believer to be undefiled, pure and above reproach particularly in regard to our attitudes towards our circumstances. We are to embrace with joy what God allows – even if it is far beyond our limited ability to understand. This certainly does not mean we are joyful about the circumstance rather about what the circumstance will ultimately bring about – what it will produce in and through us. Hebrews tells us that was exactly the attitude of our Lord Jesus when facing His cross – His focus being upon what the cross would accomplish rather than on the agony of the cross itself:

2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Heb 12:2-3 (NIV)

In light of our Lord’s attitude towards His unfavorable circumstances, Paul tells us how we should approach what is allowed in our lives:

14 Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe 16 as you hold out the word of life-- Phil 2:14-16 (NIV)

Nothing demonstrates Christ-like character more than patience and peace in the midst of afflictions. It simply goes against human nature to rest peacefully in His arms while the storm winds rage. Interestingly, as we lean and depend upon the Lord as our source of power and peace, He blesses us, sustains us and takes us from “strength to strength” as we pass through each valley of Baca (tears) He allows. We find in Psalm 84:

5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. 6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. 7 They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion...11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. 12 O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you. Psalms 84: 5-7; 11-12 (NIV)

Indeed, in every high and low of life it is God’s desire for us to be a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor. As we fully depend upon Jesus we find Him to be a very “present Savior” in every circumstance we encounter.

“Let us see that we keep God before our eyes; that we walk in His ways and seek to please and glorify Him in everything, great and small. Depend upon it, God’s work, done in God’s way, will never lack God’s supplies.” Hudson Taylor

“Anything that causes you to pray is a blessing to your life.” Ron Dunn

“Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger...these are nothing when compared with the glory that will be revealed in, and for us.” David Livingstone