Does God Even Care?
Have you ever been faced with a difficult trial that you prayed God would just relieve you from immediately and nothing has happened?
Perhaps your family is in a season where some health issues sprung up or you are experiencing financial challenges. Maybe you’re dealing with wayward children that are causing you grief, or your marriage has hit a rough patch and you’re almost ready to give up. You pray and pray, and it seems like your prayers are going on deaf ears.
Does God even care?
When Lazurus became sick and his sisters Mary and Martha sent a message to Jesus about His dear friend, Jesus responds in John 11:4 saying
“Lazurus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.”
Although Jesus loved them, He stayed where He was the next couple of days. Lazurus dies, and the sisters are in deep mourning and distress.
Can you imagine what that must have felt like?
We, as the reader, already know how the story ended, but Mary and Martha had no clue what Jesus was planning to do. All Mary and Martha knew at that moment was that the authority and power that Jesus carried could heal their brother and yet He chose to allow him to die.
What kind of friend would do that? Did they do something wrong? Did they misunderstand the heart of Jesus?
What Mary and Martha didn’t know was that Jesus was going to perform a mighty miracle that would be shared for thousands of generations to come. This miracle was going to be a foreshadowing of the death of Jesus Christ.
Perhaps you’re in this limbo period of crying out to God for breakthrough, healing, or relief, but nothing has happened yet. As a matter of fact, things have become worse and it seems like a dead end situation. You’ve even questioned yourself saying, "God did I do something wrong? Did I not do enough? Did I misunderstand your heart? Are you even there or listening to me?” You may have even given up on your faith all together.
God isn’t holding out or holding back from answering your prayers because He is incapable or because He doesn’t care. God sees the bigger picture of your situation and your life story.
The God we serve doesn't just want to put a band-aid on our situation. He wants to breathe life into it.
Sometimes God delays his response to our messy circumstances because it produces in us endurance that leads to our spiritual maturity that wouldn't have been developed if we received instantaneous relief. Other times, God delays His response because He doesn’t just want to heal, or give you what you want on a small scale, but wants to do something so big and unbelievable that it would take a miracle for such an act to take place so that His glory can be revealed.
Even when the outcome isn’t what we had hoped for, according to 1 Peter 5:10,
"God will restore, support, and strengthen you, and will place you on a firm foundation."
God doesn’t just abandon us in our suffering, but provides us with comfort in our time of need. When he does this, not only will your faith begin to be strengthened even more, but God still gets the glory.
If you’re currently in a season that seems unbearable, stressful, or overwhelming and you feel like God has yet to intervene, continue to pray without ceasing and know that God’s sovereign hand is in control. The same God who, through his Son, was able to overcome the power of death, can help us overcome every dead and hopeless situation in our lives.
Are you struggling to believe the truth that God still cares? How can a delayed response grow your faith and character?
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