There is no hesitation in Jesus, but there are divine delays.   And, sometimes we get confused and fail to note the difference- which is exactly what happened to Mary and Martha. 

Their brother Lazarus was deathly ill.  The medicines weren’t working.  The doctors had no solution.  The sisters quickly sent a message to Jesus, “Come quickly.  Lazarus is deathly ill.  There is no hope unless you come immediately and heal him.”

How confident they must have been when they sent that message to Jesus.  After all, how many strangers had Jesus healed?  How many lepers had been made whole?  How many blind could now see?  How many deaf could now hear?  If Jesus gladly ministered for hours healing strangers, certainly he would rush to Bethany the minute he received that message.  Surely his response to heal his dear friend Lazarus would be immediate.  But Jesus didn’t come.  He received the message, and he stayed where he was for two more days.

Jesus deliberately waited two more days. 

Lazarus dies.  Mary and Martha bury him in the tomb.  And they weep.  They weep with grief burdened hearts.  But they also weep with deep disappointment. 

 Where was Jesus? 

When he finally arrives in Bethany, Lazarus has been in the tomb for four days.  When Martha and then Mary greet Jesus, you can hear the sadness, even the bewilderment in their greeting:  “If only you had come sooner!” Perhaps unsaid were these despairing thoughts:  “Why did you hesitate?  Why didn’t you come right away? If you had rushed to his side, Lazarus would be alive today.”

But Jesus didn’t hesitate.  He waited with purpose.  It was a divine delay. 

For you see, Jesus had already performed miracles of resurrection.  Both Jairus’ daughter and the widow’s son in Nain were brought back to life.  But no one had ever been resurrected after the decay of death had set in, after rotting in a tomb for four days. 

Jesus didn’t hesitate.  He delayed his arrival so he could perform a greater miracle.  Not just a miracle of resurrecting someone who has just died.  No, this was a greater miracle – resurrecting someone from the decay of death.

There are times as we journey with Jesus that we will be tempted to think that He is hesitating to intervene in our lives, especially when our prayers are not answered according to our timetable or our plan.  Martha and Mary misinterpreted Jesus’ divine delay as an uncaring hesitation.  But the delay was necessary so that Jesus could perform a greater miracle – a miracle that gives all of us the confidence to know that though we may die and experience the decay of death, we too will be resurrected.  But there is another lesson we learn from this divine delay.

His delays have purpose.                                   

So, don’t be discouraged.

Don’t lose hope. 

Don’t weep with disappointment.

Don’t regard the delays as a sign of lost favor. 

Perhaps His purpose for the delay you are experiencing today is so He can perform that greater miracle tomorrow.