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When You Don’t Understand God
John 11:21–27
Martha had sent for Jesus. He didn’t come. Her brother Lazarus died, the funeral was over, and four days later Jesus finally walked up the road. Her first words to Him are the words most of us have prayed at some point: Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. She wasn’t doubting His power. She was confused by His timing. And Jesus didn’t explain Himself. Instead, He told her who He is: I am the resurrection and the life. Then He asked her one question: Do you believe this? That is the question for every one of us standing in a moment we don’t understand. I don’t have to understand God to trust God.
1. God’s Delay Doesn’t Mean God Doesn’t Care
- Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. John says so plainly. And He still stayed where He was two more days.
- Silence from heaven is not absence from heaven. God’s timing is built around His purpose, not our panic.
- When Jesus finally arrived, He wept. He was never indifferent to their pain, even while He was working a plan bigger than their request.
- A delayed answer is still an answer on the way.
2. God’s Character Is Greater Than My Circumstances
- Martha’s circumstances said too late. Jesus’ character said I am.
- Jesus didn’t point Martha to a future event. He pointed her to Himself. Resurrection isn’t just something He does. It is who He is.
- Circumstances change by the hour. God’s character has never changed once.
- Faith isn’t pretending the situation is fine. Faith is deciding that who God is outweighs what I see.
3. What Looks Finished to Me Isn’t Finished With God
- Four days in the tomb. The stone rolled in place. Everyone had gone home. By every human measure, it was over.
- God is not limited by our deadlines. The place where we stop hoping is often the place where He is about to move.
- Martha believed in a resurrection someday. Jesus wanted her to believe in Him today.
- Your marriage, your prodigal, your health, your prayer that seems dead and buried: God has not signed off on it just because you have.
Bottom Line: You will not always understand what God is doing. Martha didn’t. But she answered the question anyway: Yes, Lord, I believe. When I don’t understand WHAT God is doing, I go back to WHO I know God is. He is the resurrection and the life, and He is not finished with your story.
