Patience

The theme for so many of us might well be, "I want what I want, and I want it right now!" I remember how impatient I was as a kid, waiting for a cupcake to bake in my sister's Easy Bake Oven. Even today, I find myself wondering why God doesn't see life the way I do and give me what I want and when I want it.
When Mary and Martha sent a message to Jesus that their brother, Lazarus, was sick and needed Jesus' attention immediately, Jesus delayed going to see his friend (John 11:1-7). In the meantime, Lazarus died. His sisters couldn't understand why Jesus didn't come sooner. They firmly believed Jesus could have prevented Lazarus from dying. But, Jesus had something grander in mind. He would raise Lazarus from the dead after he had been in the grave four days. God's timing, especially His delays, may leave us thinking He doesn't care for us, but in reality, His delays are always for a very good reason.
When Jesus visited in his hometown synagogue, he dared to suggest that God loves Gentiles as much as He loves Jews (Luke 4:25-30). And even though they wanted to kill Jesus for making such a suggestion, the Bible says he pushed through the crowd and went on his way in spite of their efforts to kill him. We see the same thing happening on other occasions (John 7:30; 8:20, 58&59; 10:39). God has a plan for everything that happens in our lives. It wasn't time for Jesus to die so God didn't allow Him to die. Faith is trusting God, even when things don't go our way. Faith is believing that God always knows what He is doing and God will use our situation, whatever it is and however bad it may be, to bring about good in our lives and glory to Him (Romans 8:28). You see, God's timing is ALWAYS the right time (Galatians 4:4). "There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven" (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Trust Him in all things and at all times. God knows what He is doing and we often don't see His wisdom until much later (Isaiah 55:8&9).