WHEN GOD SEEMS TO BE DELAYING!

What do you do when God seems to be delaying? We can all agree that there are situations we want God to move on our behalf and we want it done now. Unfortunately for us, it seems like God is taking His sweet time, and not only are we frustrated, but exhausted, too. First off, for all that are waiting on God for something, I want you to know that you are not alone. We are all in some way, waiting on God to change a specific situation. Let us look at a situation in the Bible of someone who experienced delays and hopelessness. In the book of John 11, Mary and Martha sent a report to Jesus that the one He loved was sick and that He should come quickly.

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Lazarus had fallen ill, and Mary and Martha knew Jesus had the power to heal their brother. Unfortunately for them, even after Jesus received the news, He stayed for 2 more days. 2 more days!! I don’t know if you are anything like me, but that would have created a problem! Anyway, the delay led to the death of Lazarus and the sisters even laid him in the tomb, having covered him with grave clothes. That must have really hurt. First, because the one who had the power to heal did not show up, and second, that they knew Jesus loved Lazarus and yet did not come through for him at his point of need. Beloved, what do you do when God is silent? And more importantly, why does God delay in coming to our aid when we need Him?

John 11

 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ² (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) ³ So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

⁴ When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” ⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, ⁷ and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”

⁸ “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?” ⁹ Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. ¹⁰ It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.” ¹¹ After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”

¹² His disciples replied, “Lord if he sleeps, he will get better.” 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. 14 So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake, I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

Why does God delay?

Because of His love for you and me!

I know that sounds crazy but it is true, God does not always come when we need Him. It is not because He does not love us, it is in fact because of His love for us. Imagine if God would have answered Jesus’ prayer when He asked for the cup to be taken away from Him, you and I would not have received the gift of Grace that we sometimes take for granted. There are some times you have found yourself in retrospect thanking God for not answering a prayer you made because although at the time the thing felt good for you, it was not!

As we know, God knows the end from the beginning, and sometimes the thing we think we need is not what God wants for us and often, it is wrong for us. So, although you might think you need something, trust God and know that He would never deny you anything that is good for you. Sometimes it could be good for you, but the timing could be off. This brings me to my second point:

To develop patience in you and me.

But let patience have its perfect work so that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing! James1:4

Like I said earlier on, God knows best and His thoughts are higher than ours because He knows the end from the beginning. We might think we are ready for what we are praying for but as long as it has not been fulfilled yet, we can be sure that we are not ready for it. Patience is having the strength and belief in the not yet. When God is taking His time, He is refining and perfecting us to ensure that we are fully prepared to walk in the fullness of what we are praying for. Have you considered the fact that maybe God is saving you from yourself? Maybe you are not in a position to handle the promise. Or maybe He wants to reveal an aspect of Himself to you that He can only do in the waiting.

God has very many aspects of Him that He wants to reveal to you and me and some of them He can only best reveal in our waiting. Mary and Martha knew Jesus only as The Healer until He resurrected Lazarus and they realized that He was The Resurrection too. God wants you to know Him in a deeper way than you do now. So will you trust Him? Every perfect gift comes from God and no good thing will He deny His children. God is not denying you, He is perfecting you and revealing aspects of Him you are yet to know.

To reveal His Glory!

When God takes time to answer your prayer, it is because He has something greater. In the context of John 11, we see that because of Lazarus’s resurrection, many Jews believed in Jesus. God will never take you through pain unless He has a reason and an even greater manifestation of glory revealed in your life. Throughout scripture whenever God delayed in answering prayer, it was because He had a better plan. Look at Hannah’s case, she only wanted a son but God gave her 5, and the one she prayed for became a renowned prophet.

What do you do when God is delaying?

Now that we know why God delays, we need to know the proper posture to embody when God is delaying. And here are the keys.

Hold on to His character

Often when God seems to be delaying, we tend to view Him negatively. Imagine how both Mary and Martha must have felt when Jesus delayed to where their brother died, they were disappointed. And who knows, they might have doubted if He loved them as they thought. After all, why would the one who loves you delay at your point of need? But the best thing to do in such situations is to hold on to His character. He says that He is present with you in the storm. Believe that. He promises to be the shelter in your storm, believe that. Look at all the scriptures that talk about God’s character. These scriptures will help anchor you when you are going through your tough season.

God answers prayers. He is faithful and just, and He wishes you the best. And that stems from His essence and His character. Do not allow a season to make you change your perception of who God is. God never changes. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. God is not delaying because He wants to hurt you. There is a purpose to His delay, bigger than you would ever imagine. That is why He says that His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts higher than our thoughts. He is working even when God seems to be delaying.

The best part of God’s delays is that He will always exceed your expectation. If He has yet to come through for you, rest assured that He will exceed your expectation.

Prepare and shift your perspective.

When God seems to be delaying, He wants you to continue preparing and believing. I don’t know what you are waiting on God for. But let me ask you this, are you preparing for it? Have you done everything you need to do? Don’t wait on God if you have yet to do your part. God will only do His part when you do your part. He needs you to do what you can do so that He can step in and do what only He can do. After you have done what you can do, then hold on. This is what Paul in the book of Ephesians reminds us of. He tells us to stand after we have done everything that we could. And this is what I want to remind you of today.

Shift your perspective by asking God to show you what He is doing. He might not show you the big picture, but He will give you a word that will keep you going. God wants to encourage you every step of the way. After all, He promises to guide us and show us the way. And He will encourage you through the Holy Spirit who Jesus sent to encourage us.

Stay rooted in His word.

It is easy to lose focus and give up entirely on God when He seems to be delaying. But today I want to encourage you to press on and delve into His word. Remind yourself of the faithfulness of God. And how He came through for others. After all, you will overcome the enemy by the word of your testimony and the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, read the word and allow the Holy Spirit to breathe life into those dead areas in your life.

Worship, Prayer, and Praise.

These 3 are very powerful weapons that will help fight weariness when God seems to be delaying. They will also ward off the lies of the enemy that he will spew to get you off track. The truth is that God will intervene in your situation. It might not be how you expect Him to be, but He will. He promises that when you call upon Him, He will answer and rescue you. As you worship and praise, you turn your attention to God and this helps you to stop focusing on your situation. Also, we know God inhabits the praises of His people. And where His presence is, the environment shifts. Prayer will always accomplish something, even if it is in the spirit. And again, the Bible tells us that the prayers of the righteous accomplish much. So pray. And the best part is that you are not even using your righteousness, but Jesus’ righteousness. And this is where power in prayer comes from.

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, and the new is here! ¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. ²¹ God made him who had no sin to be sin  for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5

Conclusion

God is working behind the scenes when He seems to be delaying. And this is because He wants to supersede your expectations. God will never share His glory and when He seems to delay, it is because when He finally intervenes, your only response will be only God could have done it. God wants you to look to Him as your source of provision. So do not look anywhere else. Just trust Him and know that even when it does not feel like it, He is working!