Slow Down, Listen and Perceive What Jesus is Saying in the Waiting

We saw yesterday, Mary and Martha in the presence of Jesus, where one sister chose to wait on Jesus by sitting and waiting to hear the words that He would speak.  Martha, however, was going about 'doing' all the work, thinking about her load, comparing it to her sister's lack there of and being offended with not only her sister but Jesus as well, claiming He did not care about her.

The name Martha, in Greek means, she was rebellious.  This gives us insight into Martha's heart.  She was unwilling to sit an receive from the servant of all.  She rushed to him to make her complaint without realizing the great treasure that awaited her in the waiting.

When we are unwilling to sit and be still before the Lord, waiting on Him, refusing to allow Him to serve us by listening to His instructions and insight that are available to us through the reading of His word, we too are rebellious.

In busying ourselves for the sake of the gospel, without allowing the gospel to effect or affect our hearts, we are positioning our hearts as if to say, 'I know best', 'I have to do what I think is best' with no regard for what the Word of God or what others challenge us to see in His Word.

It is by this attitude that we not only do ourselves an emmense disservice but we are in essence allowing our autonomous hearts to rule our decisions which ultimately means we are making ourselves lord over our own lives.

In John 11 we peer into another vignette of the lives of these sisters that proves to be insightful and thought provoking.

Jesus is informed that Mary and Martha's brother Lazarus is ill by way of a message;

"Lord, he whom you love is ill."  

Jesus responds to the message and says;

"This illness does not lead to death.  

It is for the glory of God, 

so that the Son of God may be glorified through it."

Jesus sent this word in response to the sisters to alleviate their concern for the brother's life.

The next thing that happens is puzzling yet insightful as Jesus  responds to the news by waiting.

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  

So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, 

he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.  

Then after this he said to the disciples, 

"Let us go to Judea again."

What strikes me in this passage is that out of His love for Mary, Martha and Lazarus he makes them wait on Him.  His delay was done out of His love and affection for them as well as His wise word that should have served to encourage them in their plight.

So here is the Son of God, requiring those He loves to wait for His arrival and as a result great tragedy occurs.  And Jesus in His love has tried to give them insight before they realize He is delaying to come as He clearly reveals the method to His perceived madness, that the Son of God may be glorified through their circumstance.

How willing are we to wait at the Lord's feet, feeding from His hand as we read the word of God and pray for insight into an eternal perspective.

How often are we like Martha?

When faced with a season of waiting to we question God's love for us?  Do we really believe He is who He says He is?

Do we trust God with our lives or do we try to dictate when and how He shows up so that we do not have to endure pain and suffering?

When we walk with God through pain and suffering Christ is glorified through our lives.  Just because we travel through a landscape of difficult circumstances does not mean that He does not love us.  On the contrary, Jesus delays in answering for us to really believe.  It is a gift from Him to our rebellious and stubborn, Martha bent hearts.

Psalm 27:14 

Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; 

wait for the LORD!

Isaiah 30:18

So the LORD must come to you 

so he can show you his grace and compassion.  

For the LORD is a faithful God.  

Blessed are those who wait for his help.  

But honestly, how many of us like to wait?  We don't, period.  And this is yet evidenced by our inability to sit and be still  and slow down enough to hear and perceive what the Lord is trying to say to us.  

Jesus is trying to give us insight into the waiting.  

Isaiah 30:15 shows us very clearly the propensity of the human heart;

This is what the Sovereign LORD, 

The Holy One of Israel, says:

Only in returning to me 

and resting in me will you be saved.  

In quietness and confidence is your strength.  

But you would have none of it.  

Did you notice that God is first and foremost identifying Himself as having ultimate control and authority over our lives and He is the only One who really does.  So if we rest in this reality that Mary understood and walked out, we are really believing what Jesus is saying,   That He is God and there is NO OTHER besides Him and He knows what is best for us so that we will believe!

So SLOW DOWN!  REST in His sovereignty and stop trying to assert yourself as "s" sovereign!