Tag: believe

Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you;
And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
Blessed are all those who wait for Him. Isaiah 30:18 NKJV

Delays are not denials. Men would pluck their mercies green, thwarting the love and wisdom growing there, when the Lord would have them ripe … “Do not grieve Him by doubting His love. Lift up your head and begin to praise Him even now for the deliverance which is on the way to you, and you will be abundantly rewarded for the delay which has tried your faith….” ~ Adam Slowman “Expectation Corner” reprinted in Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Cowman.

“God is a wise husbandman,…He knows when we are spiritually ready to receive the blessing to our profit and His glory. Waiting in the sunshine of His love is what will ripen the soul for blessing. Waiting under the cloud of trial, that breaks in showers of blessings, is as needful. Be assured that if God waits longer than you could wish, it is only to make the blessing doubly precious….” ~Andrew Murray reprinted in Streams in the Desert.

Wait in the sunshine of His love.

But to you who fear My name
The Sun of Righteousness shall arise
With healing in His wings;… Malachi 4:2a NKJV

Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper. 2 Chronicles 20:20b NKJV

Hear the Word of the LORD. BELIEVE. Be firmly persuaded. Believe solidly. Be established in the LORD and you will be established. Amen! — is another way of saying “it” — the thing, the word — is solidly, firmly, surely, verified and established.

Allow me to reiterate with Slowman: Delays are not denials.

In John 11 we find a man named Lazarus who was sick. His sisters sent word to Jesus saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.” v. 3

Jesus’ response? “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” v. 4

Let’s look at this:

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. v .5, 6

Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you;…

Be gracious is to be inclined to have compassion or bestow favor on someone. It is an attitude marked by compassion, generosity, kindness and a consideration that will refrain from further wounding the bruised and suffering.

When the days of Lazarus being dead are tallied up, he had already passed when Jesus got the message that he was sick. Jesus already knew that. He did not delay His going so Lazarus would die. He did not delay to punish or ignore the sisters. Then the age old question, Why?

“And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe.” v. 15

His delay was going to produce a greater miracle.

As soon as Martha heard Jesus was coming she went to meet Him. She declared that if Jesus had been present Lazarus would not have died. True. Then she made a profound statement:

“But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” v. 22

Do we have that kind of faith in the midst of our losses?

Even after their exchange, the one in which Martha stated that Jesus is the Son of God, she slightly wavered when He commanded the stone to be rolled away. Mind you, Lazarus had been dead FOUR days. The commentary I read said many resources say that the Jews in that day held the belief that the spirit of the deceased hung around for up to three days looking for re-entry, but four days? That exceeded all reason of explanation. Not only that, there is decomposition to consider.

Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.” v. 39

Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” v. 40

Has Jesus said that to you concerning your situation? Do you believe? Are trial and time making you weary? I get it. The things I’m sharing here with you today, they are born of my own wrestlings, of entries in my own journal, and ruminations. I can relate to Martha’s slight hesitation, but I know that if I can hold on like she did, I will receive the greater miracle. And so will you. Beloved, Delays are not denials. There is grace in the waiting, and if we ask, He will reveal it to us.

Apparently she established her belief because they took the stone away. The next part of verse 41 is essential for victory:

And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.”

That is reminiscent of this:

Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against (against their enemies);…and they were defeated. 2 Chronicles 20:22 NKJV (parenthesis mine)

These are the instructions in the great Book:

I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth. Psalm 34:1

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. Psalm 100:4

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Philippians 4:4

“But I can’t,” you say, “I am broken, crushed.”

You would have to read about David to appreciate all that he’d been through and it finally came to this: in I Samuel 30 we find that David’s ragtag army had returned to their city, plundered. Their refuge, burned. Their wives and children taken captive. The men who once stood with David were now talking of stoning God’s anointed.

Now David was greatly distressed,… v. 6a

Most likely an understatement, …

…But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. v. 6b

This was his choice of action before the verse was finished. And how do we strengthen ourselves? The joy of the LORD is our strength! (Nehemiah 8:10) We must refuse to allow our trials to swallow us whole and:

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. James 1:2-4 NKJV

May we, like Martha, declare Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, and trust in His love, that He will perform the greater miracle for the glory of God, in His time. And may we, like Jesus, offer thanksgiving first. praise, Praise, PRAISE!

By the way, Lazarus was raised from the dead (v. 44) and, Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him. v. 45

Join me in believing in Him . . . no matter how long the wait. Our commandment during the wait?

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NKJV