Right out of the starting gate I was struck in today’s reading. John 11:6 says, “So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was” (ESV).

What is up with that? His friend is sick. He could stop it. Why wait?

By the time Jesus shows up in Bethany, Lazarus is dead. Everyone was thinking the same thing, “You’re too late, Jesus.” It seems He had waited too long.

But then Jesus pulls a turn around on everyone. He wasn’t too late at all. He simply had a different agenda than everyone else. Everyone else wanted Jesus to keep Lazarus from dying. Jesus wanted to glorify God by showing that He could raise the dead.

Here is the take away for me. Jesus is never late. Jesus doesn’t have to respond by my time table. He is always right on time for His agenda and His glory. My job is not to persuade, cajole or manipulate Him into doing my bidding on my timetable. My job is to learn His agenda and strive for it. I need to recognize that Jesus’ plans are greater than my own and trust that He will never be too late to accomplish what is truly important on His agenda.

What hit you in today’s reading?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. If you would like to listen to a lesson I preached about Thomas from these chapters. Click the link below.

Encountering Thomas at His Greatest