Waiting, Waiting .....

“Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he received the news that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was for two more days.” John 11:5-6 Good News Bible

Jesus was in tune with His Father and would only move when the time was right. But can you imagine what it must have been like for Martha and Mary, waiting back home with Lazarus? Certainly, they both reproached Jesus when He eventually arrived.

I have always found waiting difficult. Why is it, I so often choose the wrong line at the supermarket? The one where there’s a malfunction at the checkout or some other delay. I shouldn’t fume, but use the opportunity to abide and just ‘be’! What about waiting in the longer term, say weeks, months or even years, for something you are longing and believing for?

Several years ago, after an operation, I experienced what some might call a mini-breakdown. I lost all sense of God’s presence. It felt as if God had gone into hiding and I was all alone, the only person in the whole world. It was devastating. I soon realised that somehow, if I put my trust in God, He would take me through to the other side. I spent much time just ‘being’ and centring on Jesus, the best I could. Sure enough, after many painful, and at times, surprisingly blessed months, it all lifted and my senses returned. It was like an infant being lifted into its mother’s arms.

I once saw a note pinned on an old church door in Malta:

Jesus always comes on time
He’s never early
He’s never late
Trust Him.