BY DR. DEBBIE LANIER
Have you ever cried out to God about a situation, yet He seems to stay completely silent? You see nothing to encourage you that God is hearing you. In fact, things seem to be spiraling, leaving you wondering, “LORD, Don’t You Even Care?”
Yep, I’ve been there.
We witness these moments throughout Scripture time and again. Think of Lazarus, one of Jesus’ closest friends. They were tight! Lazarus’ house was a haven for Jesus amid His hectic pace of ministry. So, when Lazarus’ sister, Martha, raced to tell Jesus that Lazarus needed Him NOW, you would think Jesus would drop everything to get to His friend. But nope! Jesus carried on with business as usual and left his pal to die. (Look it up!)
The thought of ANYONE responding this way seems unusually harsh, but the Son of God turning His back on His best friend is especially hard to swallow. Jesus intentionally waited four agonizing days before He even headed that way. Lazarus not only lay dead, he was so gone he reeked!
I could spend paragraphs describing the miracle of Jesus restoring Lazarus to life. (It’s so very powerful!) But I’ll tarry where we all feel at times: Why did Jesus wait? Why did He allow those He loved to suffer? Does He not even care?
It’s easy to become so engulfed in our pain that we miss the larger story. When it looked as if Jesus was completely unresponsive to the needs of others, He was actually consumed with the needs of others.
Did you know that Lazarus’ resurrection created such a stir that multitudes began following Jesus? The crowds didn’t merely hear about the miracle, they witnessed it! The news lit the region on fire! Things accelerated so quickly, enthusiastic followers organized a parade to honor Jesus. (Palm Sunday!)
That display infuriated the religionists. So threatened were they by Jesus’ power (that completely swallowed up their own), they plotted from that moment to kill Him by whatever means necessary!
Within days (five, exactly), this Jesus with the power to resurrect the dead becomes the One nailed to a tree in the most agonizing way. With this barbaric act, those threatened by Jesus’ Power thought they had ended it once and for all.
We know this story. What they thought they finished actually just began their own demise. Their diabolical scheme didn’t unravel Jesus at all; it unraveled them.
It was God’s plan all along for Jesus to suffer that cross! The Same God who resurrected Lazarus resurrected Himself just days later!
See? When Jesus refused to heal his friend the moment Lazarus’ sister asked, it wasn’t because He didn’t care. The Bible tells us it so affected Jesus that He wept over the ordeal. What appeared “insensitive” was the exact opposite! Jesus knew what nobody else could know. Just healing another sickness would have never turned heads enough to hasten His arrest. Lazarus needed to die so that Jesus could resurrect him; and Jesus knew that resurrecting him would expedite His own execution. Waiting sealed Jesus’ own death . . . AND HE KNEW IT!
Are you tracking with me? What we perceive as His “insensitivity” is NEVER the case. We see things from a limited scope. We mostly live so engulfed in our own struggles that we completely miss the price Jesus paid to not only bear our struggles, but to settle them, too!
I don’t know what you face right now, but I know Jesus’ eyes were on you before you lifted yours toward Him.
When we assume He doesn’t care, we believe a lie. He cares, friend. Jesus deeply cares about EVERY detail that concerns you.
Call on His Name and know that even if it seems He hasn’t come to resurrect whatever is dying in your life, He will come at just the right time. He’s not waiting because He doesn’t care. He’s waiting because He sees what you cannot see.
You cannot even imagine all He has laid on the line to raise you up, but trust me . . . when all hope seems gone, your resurrection is coming!
For comments or prayer, please contact Dr. Lanier at HopeCommunityChurch.tv.