Divine Delays

I have heard it said God works in mysterious ways, and we can rest assured He is working through intentional delays.  We can often tie God's love for us by His prompt responses to our prayers and requests, and some even doubt His favour if a painful trial be prolonged.  A passage in the Gospel of John reveals God delays with a glorious purpose in mind to accomplish far more than we could ever ask or think.

When Lazarus the friend of Jesus was deathly ill, his sisters Mary and Martha sent a messenger to Jesus to notify him.  They knew Jesus had the power to heal, and appealed to His love for Lazarus so He would quickly respond.  John 11:4-6 said, "When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it." ⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was."  Martha and Mary thought because Jesus loved Lazarus (which He certainly did) He would immediately respond by coming to them, but out of love for Lazarus--and Mary, Martha, His disciples, people in Bethany, believers and unbelievers for all time--He chose to delay.

While Jesus delayed, Lazarus died and was buried.  By the time Jesus arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had been dead four days.  This was no surprise to Jesus, for before they left on their journey John 11:14-15 reads, "Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵ And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him."  Jesus allowed Lazarus to die because He was going to raise him from the dead and His disciples, the eyewitnesses and their testimony to others would cause people to believe Jesus was not merely a Rabbi but the Messiah, the Son of God, the Resurrection and the Life, and by faith in Him people would receive eternal life.  He would accomplish this amazing feat by waiting, by delaying when people were desperate for Him to act immediately.  Delay was a divine decree out of God's love for everyone, and His delay still bears everlasting fruit to this day.

Let us not dismiss how God demonstrates love by delays.  We see delays as an unnecessary inconvenience to be avoided, yet faith teaches us God works in and through circumstances in a miraculous fashion beyond what we could ever ask or think.  Martha and Mary desired Jesus to heal the body of Lazarus, but Jesus raised Him from the dead so they could receive eternal life and realise the death of a body does not mean all hope is lost.  For the believer it is a glorious entry into the presence of God where there is no sickness, suffering, pain, tears, sin or death.  Praise the LORD for His wondrous works, and through His divine delays He is accomplishing great things beyond reckoning because He loves us.

The Person Jesus

Jesus is LORD over all, and God has put everything under His feet.  When I grew up in the church I often heard of my need for Jesus as my "personal LORD and Saviour."  It was not enough for me to give mental ascent to the fact there is a God and He has been revealed in the person of Jesus, but to make a personal decision to receive Him by faith.  Whether my parents were "saved" did not remove my personal responsibility to choose to follow Jesus and obey Him.

When we say something is personal, we often mean it is something to keep private.  This is not the case when a soul is born again by the power of the Gospel, for a supernatural and transformational event has taken place.  The pop band Depeche Mode wrote a song about a "personal Jesus" that is not a Gospel song at all, for it suggests a person can be a "Jesus" figure for someone else, one who makes their life have meaning.  The "Jesus" depicted in that song who assures a caller of their acceptance and forgiveness reminds me of a personal pan pizza which translates to being very small, a light lunch for one person.  This isn't the meaning of Jesus being your personal LORD and Saviour at all, for He at once is a Saviour to all who trust in Him--with plenty left over.  To have "your own personal Jesus" excludes others and has it all backwards, for Jesus owns us having purchased us with His own blood.

Since the word "personal" never appears in scripture in the context of the Gospel, I view it as an unnecessary ornamentation or cliche that can potentially confuse people.  The Bible teaches God was manifested to mankind in the person of Jesus Christ, the "Word that became flesh and dwelt among us."  The disciples were eyewitnesses of His glory and many of these chose voluntary death rather than deny what they were convinced of:  they knew Jesus was exactly who He claimed to be, the Son of God, the Messiah, the Saviour of the world.  Jesus is not the Saviour we imagine He should be, for being God He is Who He is.  Jesus identified as "I AM," the almighty God who revealed Himself to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  The personal opinions of men have no power to shift who God is.

It is an awesome truth the KING OF KINGS can and will save all who believe and receive the crucified and risen Jesus as Saviour.  This reality changes who we are as people, for Jesus is our life.  Paul urged believers in Colossians 2:6-10:  "As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, ⁷ rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. ⁸ Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. ⁹ For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; ¹⁰ and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power."  Those who receive Christ are made complete in Him, having an abundant life with thanksgiving.

One miracle Jesus did was to feed 5,000 men plus women and children with 5 loaves and 2 fish--a personal-sized lunch of a lad who willingly offered it.  Jesus blessed the bread, broke it and directed His disciples to distribute it among the people who ate to the full.  There were 12 large baskets of fragments left over they gathered up.  This is a wonderful illustration how Jesus ministered to each one as much as they desired, and He is the Bread of Life who supplies more than we could ever need or want.  Our relationship with Him is deeply personal and eternal, and the abundant life Jesus offered by the Gospel is available to all who will choose to submit to Him in faith.

The Word Manifest

It is a wonder God has chosen to reveal Himself to us.  What a time to be alive!  We are blessed beyond measure with the reality of the truth proclaimed in Hebrews 1:1-3:  "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, ² has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; ³ who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high..."  Many people who feared and sought God did not have the benefit of being introduced to Jesus Christ, the Son of God who created all things, purged our sins and sat down in heavenly glory.  He is our High Priest and KING OF KINGS, the One who calls those who follow Him in obedience "My friends."  This isn't a snoozing, blocking, unfriending kind of friend, but One who sticks closer than a brother for eternity.

As I was reading Lead Like Christ by A.W. Tozer, I was reminded of words found in the beginning of another epistle, Titus 1:1-4:  "Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness, ² in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, ³ but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior; ⁴ to Titus, a true son in our common faith: grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour."  Jesus is the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us, and in our time God has "manifested His word through preaching."  This is really a startling announcement.  God who spoke through prophets, has angelic messengers and His own Son Jesus, has chosen to manifest His word through preaching by man.

There is something supernatural and amazing when God's word is proclaimed with faith by those filled with the Holy Spirit, whether they stand at a pulpit or sit in the lunchroom with co-workers.  The proclamation of the Gospel does not require amplification to be powerful or the dimmed lights of a sanctuary with music in the background to be meaningful:  the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe.  When believers gather with the expectation and desire to hear from God, through His word God is faithful to speak.  Knowing God has chosen to manifest His word through preaching ought to increase our personal priority to hear preaching and heed the message.  God is faithful to keep His word, and we ought to be faithful to hear and declare it with our lives.  David wrote in Psalm 138:2, "I will worship toward Your holy temple, and praise Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; for You have magnified Your word above all Your name."  That is the word we have the privilege of proclaiming.

Request, not Protest

It seems to me we live in a day of protest, to gather to declare opposition.  Because of the widespread utilisation of protests these days there is little need for me to cite examples of protests or groups that mobilise and gather to oppose the protestors!  Protests are an intriguing social phenomenon, for while they may draw attention to a cause they can also harden the perception of others against them.  As long as protests do not disrupt or negatively impact the lives of others by blocking traffic or destroying property, most people outside the protest pay little mind.  Protesting seems to do more to bolster the morale of people involved in protesting because by shouting slogans and carrying signs they hope to be heard and effect change.  Being unified in opposition against something can bring people together to form a community and a sense of belonging they could cultivate by themselves.

I have been studying through the book of Job and I continue to marvel over his response to the intense personal tragedy of losing his possessions, wealth and children in a day.  Job did not protest to receive evil from the almighty God, for he had also received great good from Him.  When he heard the devastating news of theft, destruction and death Job tore his clothes, shaved his head and fell down in worship of God.  In a day when people take a stand daily for basic human rights, it is shocking how Job humbled himself as he submitted to losing everything.  I wonder:  is there found in God's people the humility, the resignation, to accept such awful news like Job did from God and bless the LORD?  In humbling himself before God in worship, I am convinced Job accomplished far more than he would have by protesting before men.  When the law was signed that prayer was restricted to king Darius for 30 days, Daniel did not protest:  he went home, opened his windows toward Jerusalem and he prayed according to his daily routine.  After he was thrown to the lions for breaking the decree God shut the mouths of the hungry lions who did him no harm.  Protesting cannot do what requests to God can.

Having made our requests known to the almighty God, what is a protest except to appeal to men for strength and confidence?  If God has heard our voice cry out to Him, do we need to shout to be heard? Consider the words of Jeremiah 17:5-8:  "Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the LORD. ⁶ For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited. ⁷ "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD. ⁸ For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit."  It is a curse to make flesh your strength, whether it is your own flesh or the power, influence and ability of others.  This reliance upon anyone rather than God exposes a heart that departs from the LORD.  One of the consequences of this self-inflicted curse is the inability to see when good comes; it is blindness to notice what God is doing and will accomplish.  Like a shrub in a parched land, the one who makes flesh his strength will be alone without refreshment.

The one who trusts and hopes in the LORD is compared by the prophet to a tree planted by waters with a well-established and supportive root system.  This believer can face searing heat of trials without fear and endure drought without feeling anxious, for the needs of this tree are supplied by God who causes growth and fruitfulness in season.  Having been established in the goodness and grace of God, Job was enabled to endure an awful series of trials.  When he lay there in dust and ashes and scraped his boils with a broken piece of pottery, based upon his discourse at the time Job did not feel fruitful or blessed:  he felt ruined and absolutely destroyed without remedy.  Though everything had gone horribly wrong, faith in God moved Job to bless the LORD anyway.  Better than protesting is to bless the LORD at all times whether our voices heard or views shared by men, for God is our strength and refuge.  Philippians 4:6-7 reads, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."  Having made our request before our God we worship and trust, we can rest assured He will accomplish more than our protesting ever could.