Too Late

 "Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazerus.
When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was." John 11:5-6

I have been thinking on this story, and these are some things I have noticed. (Read John 11 for the whole story.)

*Sometimes we doubt God's love and care when we are waiting for Him to answer. And yet it may because of his love and care that He is waiting.

*Waiting times do end. Jesus did come.

*What God has in mind is always bigger and better than what we have in mind.

*With God, there is always hope.

*Jesus is not heartless. He cares about our pain and the fact that we don't understand.

*Mary and Martha both went to Jesus when they heard that He had come. They took their pain and questions to Him. They didn't avoid and stay away from Him because they didn't understand. We need to take our pain and questions to Him, too. Then He will help us.

*We need to follow God's instructions and obey His promptings even when they make no sense to us. (Take away the stone from the grave!)

*Sometimes we object at the way God wants to answer. (Lord, by this time he stinketh)

*God always hears our prayers and knows our needs. Just because He hasn't answered yet doesn't mean He's forgotten about you.

*With God, all things are possible. He's limitless!

*God's timing is different than ours. What we think is "too late" to God is "right on time!" We need to trust God's timing.

Living While You're Waiting

Waiting is never easy! And yet most of the time we are waiting for something. So it's important to be thankful for everything we do have right now and learn patience and contentment while waiting. Also, we should not stop living while we are waiting. I like these closing words from a devotional. 

 ...Make sure you keep living while you're waiting.
It takes courage to wait patiently and yet get out there and embrace life. But you can do it. Lean on God and courage will never be in short supply.   Joni Eareckson Tada from Glorious Intruder

Did You Think to Pray?

     My husband is currently renovating our kitchen. When he got to needing an electrician, he found he couldn't get one until four weeks later. This would hold up the whole process so it was a bit annoying. When we all prayed as a family after dinner, I prayed that we would find someone who could do it sooner. Afterwards my husband thanked me for praying about it. He said, "I didn't think to pray about it." My husband is a praying man, but it just hadn't occurred to him to pray about this specific problem. And I'm sure there's many times I haven't thought to pray about things, too.

    We found another way to look for electricians who were less busy, and a few days later had an electrician doing the job.
    Nothing is too small, too big, too practical or too personal to pray about. God has a solution to every one of our problems. God sometimes answers in completely different ways than we expect and sometimes He teaches us to wait patiently and trust His timing and wisdom. And of course, He sometimes says, "No."
But it makes a huge difference when we think to pray about everything.

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

What is bothering you right now? What problem are you facing?

Have you thought to pray about it?