What If It Doesn't Happen

John 11

Jesus Comforts the Sisters of Lazarus

17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was less than two miles[a] from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother.20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.

21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

Sometimes God allows us to go through things, and we're trusting God, seeking his face, fasting, and all of that. We always believe that it will work for our good because scripture says 

Jeremiah 29:11 New International Version (NIV)

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

But we never think that something will go wrong because scripture also says:

Romans 8:28 New International Version (NIV)

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose.

Sometimes we have our own thoughts on what that means. It's like we forget that bad things still work out for us, like in the situation with Lazarus. 

In the passage above, Martha was showing her genuine disappointment in Jesus. Jesus knew that Lazarus was going to die. He knew how ill he was, but He didn't do anything. I can definitely understand where Martha was coming from. She was pretty much saying, "Look, Jesus, you're a good guy and everything, but you really let me down. You knew my brother was dying and you have the power to heal him, but you decided you didn't want to show up an now he's dead." The amount of hurt she felt must have been huge. For someone to know what was going on and still did nothing is very hurtful. 

I know that her emotions had to be all over the place. Sometimes God allows us to go through those things so He can shower us who He really is, and what He is capable of doing. Yes, they were mad with God because Lazarus dead. But 4 days later, he raised the same dead man from the grave

I can't help but think about my own life. I know I've talked about PCOS many times throughout this blog but get ready because I'm going to mention it again. Before I was officially diagnosed with PCOS, doctors were telling me to prepare for a baby. Numerous people had prayed over me and "prophesied" that I would have a child. I was holding on to those prayers and words for dear life, and then I find out that there's no baby at all. Not only was I told that. I was also told that my ovaries were completely covered in cysts, I would probably never be able to have children, I was pre diabetic, and I would be on medication for the rest of my life. 

I'm not going to lie, I was mad at God for allowing that to happen to me. Yes, it does still hurt to think about it. There was a lot going on. I had never known God to be a healer before then. A little over a year after my diagnosis, my body was miraculously healed. I never took the medication I was prescribed. I stopped taking the birth control after the first month. Yet, every cyst they saw originally was gone. 

God will always deliver. It may be in the exact moment when you need it, but He will come through. We still have to trust Him in spite of everything.