When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. "Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died." —John 11:20-21
Perhaps you know the feeling of God letting you down. Do you know when it usually happens? Not only will it be at the worst moment that it could possibly happen, but it will be at the very time when you are doing your very best to get things right—the moment you seek to do God's will.
Take the Christian who has strayed away or who has become lukewarm, who suddenly feels God talking to him and he answers, "Yes, Lord. I'll do what You say." They fully expect God to say, "Wonderful! Let Me tell you what I am going to do to reward that act of obedience: I am just going to bless you; I am going to fill you with love, and you are going to feel My presence. I am going to cause all sorts of good things to happen to you because you are doing the right thing!"
That is the moment when God lets us down. Why? Well, it's always with a good reason. For example, when Lazarus was ill, Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick," and Jesus did nothing (John 11:3). They were convinced that Jesus would stop everything and go heal their brother—just like that. Instead, Jesus turned up four days after the funeral. The Lord let them down. They felt betrayed, only to find out later that the Lord had a strategy in what He did. What He ended up doing was far greater than what they wanted to happen.
We are not promised that God will deal with those who have hurt us in this life.
If you have been mistreated and have been hurt, and you wonder if God sees it happening, I want you to know that God doesn't like it any more than you do, and one day He will correct the situation. It is only a matter of time.
Excerpted from All's Well That Ends Well (Authentic Media, 2005).
