September 14, 2024 Devo

September 14th, 2024

“It’s All About Jesus!”
The Story of Lazarus (John 11)
When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days…When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.” – John 11:17, 20-21 (NLT)
“If Only”

“If only.” Is there any phrase more haunting than that? We pray for God’s help. We pray intensely for God to intervene. We pray desperately for a miracle. Then, after the crisis is over, God shows up. But what good is that NOW?
“If only you had changed my husband’s heart, he wouldn’t have left me.” “If only you had gotten me that promotion, we wouldn’t be struggling.” “If only you had stopped that accident from happening, I wouldn’t be in this wheelchair.” “If only…” You fill in the blanks.
So many times in our journey we encounter crises or setbacks or tragedies and see them with a sense of finality. We’re so focused on what happened and what God DIDN’T do, that we lose sight of the fact that God never stops working. Never.

You hear that finality in Martha’s statement, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.” The unstated thought in that is, “So now there is nothing you can do.” And it was so wrong. Jesus had JUST BEGUN to work! In fact, it would be out of their “if only” moment that Jesus would do one of His most unbelievable miracles.
There is no “if only” in the vocabulary of God. There is only what is. And God can do a LOT with what is. Wayward husbands can come back. If not, broken hearts can heal and learn to move forward. Missed promotions can turn into better promotion options. Or it can lead to a new job, a new company, a whole new career. Accidents and injuries can completely alter our way of life. But they can also lead to closer relationships, changed perspectives, and even new opportunities to be used by God. We have to let go of our “if only” to see the “what now” that God is up to. Like Martha and Mary found out, just because God doesn’t answer your prayer in the way you hoped it would be, it doesn’t mean that God is done. Sometimes, He’s just begun. That’s God’s Word for you today.