Trust in His Timing [John 11:1-44]

Recently, I read an article about waiting for God’s plan to reveal itself. In this article, it mentions the story about Mary and Martha waiting for Jesus to come and save their brother Lazarus from his death. I have read this story many times, but never once have I focused on the fact that Mary and Martha waited and waited for Jesus to come and He didn’t come until four days after their brother’s death. I can only imagine how frustrating and painful this must have been for the two sisters, knowing that Jesus could easily have saved their brother from death. Yet, when Jesus does finally arrive Martha says to Him:

“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” (John 11:21-22)

A little bit farther down in Chapter 11 in verse 27, Martha says, “I believe that you are Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” She said this before Lazarus was raised from the dead. This woman loves Jesus despite of what He can give to her. She said this even when she believed that Jesus did not come to save her brother, before she knew that she would be able to see her brother again. That is SO powerful. She waited and waited for Jesus to come, but even in her disappoint she chooses to love Him and trust Him.

Having patience with people is an ability that God has blessed me with, not to boast but it is something that I cherish because it gives me the chance to work with some of the sweetest, kindest people who are very good at testing my patience: special needs children and children in general. However, I do not have much patience when it comes to life situations and my future plans. I like to know things right away and be prepared for whatever life is going to throw at me. As I have been learning this semester, waiting only brings about greater blessings. Mary and Martha are the perfect example of how waiting, even though it may be hard and seem useless, brings about greater things than you could have ever imagined. Their unwavering faith in Jesus is truly inspiring and something that I have been trying to bring into my life this past few months.

This past weekend, my patience and ability to wait was tested to the limit. As many of you may know, I am currently trying to get a degree in Early Childhood Education at the University of Georgia. This is the most competitive major inside of the College of Education; therefore the application process is pretty rigorous. I had to write an essay, create a resume, and get three different letters of recommendation, as well as keep my grades as high as possible. I sent my application into the college the third week of August and was supposed to find out before or on the first Friday of October, which did not happen.

To sidetrack a little bit: my plan since entering the University a little over a year ago has changed slightly. I no longer want to be a teacher right when I graduate, but would absolutely LOVE the opportunity to become a Child Life Specialist and work in a Children’s Hospital. In order to become a Child Life Specialist, you either need to obtain a Child and Family Development Degree or go through a special training program after obtaining a degree that relates to children in some way. So an education degree would satisfy that requirement. However, by getting my education degree, I would have to go through a little bit more work to become a specialist, while if I got the other degree, I could do it right away. This decision of which major I wanted to do did not become a thought in my mind until after I had submitted my College of Education application, so there was no way for me to change my major. It all depended on the decision that was supposed to come out the first Friday of October, but it didn’t and couldn’t help but be frustrated that I hadn’t found out yet.

Although I want to do something besides teaching, my plan was to accept the acceptance and continue with that degree if I got in. And if I didn’t, who knows what I will do.

Through all the waiting, this idea that God’s timing is better than what I may think has been really weighing on my heart. I tend to get so caught up what I desire for myself that I lose the perspective to really see what is good for me and my future. But God sees it all and knows exactly what He wants for my life. And although this is a tough concept to grasp, I have begun to come to terms with it and realize that no matter how frustrated I get with waiting and not knowing, God has got it all planned out and He knows and wants the best for His sons and daughters here on earth. So whenever you get frustrated with what is going on in your life, take a minute to look closely at the situation and try and realize that God knows everything about it, meaning He knows and sees things that you may not. This is so powerful because if we could make all our decisions on our own, we would be in so much trouble because most of the time we are only looking a small part of the bigger solution. God has the whole solution and wants to give it to you because He wants to give you the BEST.  Jesus Calling on October 5^th said, “If you make problem-solving secondary to the goal of living close to Me, you can find Joy even in your most difficult days.” I feel that this goes along perfectly with Mary and Martha. Instead of trying to solve the problem of their brother being dead, they trust in Jesus and look where that gets them; they get to see their brother again. How AMAZING is that?

Now I am sure you are wondering what the decision was for whether or not I got admitted into the college. I found out late last night that I was accepted into the Early Childhood Education program at the University of Georgia! I am so excited to see what this opportunity has in store for me and what a joy it was to wait for this wonderful news! As I said earlier, God knows better and trusting Him creates so much peace in your life.

God Bless and have a great week!