God Allows Delays That We May Believe on Him

"And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him." (John 11:15)

Do we really believe that He holds everything together in our lives?

Or when things get really tough, are we going to fall back into panicking, fretting, and then trying to fix and micromanage our circumstances?

Will we run to Jesus our High Priest forever in our time of need? Or do we continue to trust in our own efforts?

It's essential for us to take God at His Word, not to take God at His Word when circumstances are lining up our way, too.

John 11 is a quintessential account to show us how God uses delays.

Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, was sick.

It was clear that He loved them, and Jesus loved them enough that he waited two more days before going to visit them again.

Why did Jesus wait?

"When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby." (John 11:4)

Jesus did not come to help us in the midst of our up and coming troubles only.

He came that we would believe on Him, that we would see the never-ending glory of His Father!

A number of times throughout the 11th chapter in the Gospel of John, Jesus cites how He wants His followers to believe on Him:

"And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him." (John 11:15)

We need to believe that Jesus is not just the Lord of the storms. He is not just the Good Shepherd, the Bread of Life, and He is not just the Word made Flesh.

He is the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25).

Are you facing a dead situation in your life? Does the current circumstances in your way seem to suggest that there is no hope for your situation?

You need to see Jesus as not just a provider and protector, but as The Resurrection and the Life!

God allows these delays that we may believe on Him for all things, to see Him as everything that we need:

"25Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? 27She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world." (John 11:25-27)

The word "believe" appears four times in the above passage. Faith means a lot to God, and He wants us to believe on His Son!

"Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." (John 6:29)

When Martha resists removing the stone on her brother Lazarus' grave, Jesus responds:

"40Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?" (John 11:40)

Then in His prayer, Jesus says:

"42And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me."

The crowds, the public, the news agents of Jesus' day already knew that Jesus could heal people from their sicknesses and diseases.

But was He really God? Could he really overcome death? 

Yes, He is, and yes He did.

And many others believed on Him, too:

"Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him." (John 11:45)

God is not just interested in our temporary peace and prosperity.

He wants us to rest in Him in the face of any, of all setbacks, hardships, tragedies, difficulties.

He wants us to depend on Him for everything, for He is our life (Colossians 3:4)

God Allows Delays That We May Have Full Prosperity

When I got hired at the marketing firm at the end 2015, my life took on so many new opportunities and victories.

I ended up facing so many responsibilities, so many drags and demands on my time, too. It was almost impossible to get focus. I stopped reading the Bible. In fact, I can recall that I had spent so little time reading God's Word and meditating on His promises. It was about April 2016, and I visited one of the local university libraries. A sense of "my life is over" had washed over me briefly. It was as though my life was over.

I had "arrived" with a comfortable,stable career, and I tried to balance the job with the Election 2016 events--local, state, and federal. On top of that I was direct for California MassResistance, the President of the Beach Cities Republicans, and on top of that I was still writing for my own blogs as well as for national news sites.

I look back on that life and I have to ask myself: how did I do all that?

The next question emerges: How could I have done all that?!

I wasn't even going to church in those days. I was really missing out on a lot at the local church. Thank God that God does not condemn us. We are guided by His peace, and sometimes circumstances will emerge which force us to rest once against in His promises.

One problem that was so prominent in my life, even after getting a better job and finding the time and resources to do more of the things that I wanted to do--I still had this lingering need to take care of everything myself. If I was not initiating the fight, if I was not planning the events, if I was not taking on the challenges, then nothing would happen.

How strong that false conviction had been in my spirit.

Jesus holds everything together--in Himself:

"And he is before all things, and by him all things consist." (Colossians 1:17)

Something that has changed for the better in my life is that I am going to church again. I see the welcome value in attending church, hearing God's Word, not worrying about what individuals may or may not do. It is not important. What matters is that I get to hear more of God's Word and see more of Jesus every day.

It's really all about Him. Why does God allow delays, setbacks, hardships? Actually, I have to say "Why does God allow delays, setbacks, hardships seemingly?"

Because He wants to advance us, and He wants to us to prosper, and he wants to promote us in every way so that we continue to depend on Him more and more. Maturity in Christ Jesus is not about depending on our resources more, but allowing His life to flow in more areas of our lives.

It's about seeing more of Him, and wanting to let Him transform me more and more, from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3: 17-18).

I must say, in spite of all the concerns and setbacks I had worried about ever since I left my last regular day-to-day job, things have improved well enough for me. I realize now that there are more opportunities awaiting me. I want to grow in grace, not just be busier. It's not about me making any kind of a difference, but allowing Him to change me from glory to glory, to grow from faith to faith (Romans 1:17).

How Tithing Frees Us, No Longer to Fear Not Having Enough

I used to resist tithing.

I just never knew if I would have enough money, and I couldn't trust God to provide everything.

Learning how to understand God's leading was very difficult for me. Because of the rigorous indoctrination that I had to put up with from my mother and her cult-like attachment to Alcoholics Anonymous, I had gotten to a place where I was constantly looking to her and taking her word for everything.

It has gotten really crazy. There were times where I would tithe, and then she would correct me for doing that, or tell me that it was not OK to do so.

Constantly I was looking to her or to other people to tell me what to think, what to do, how to assess difficult situations in my life.

Tithing was not easy because of that bad sense of training. There was also a period in my life when I was faithfully tithing at my local church, but it didn't seem that my life was getting better.

I have also learned with the greater revelation of God's grace that He loves me because of His Son Jesus. It does not matter whether I tithed or not. However, I want that growing revelation of God's love and resources in my life.

Because I realize more of what he has been able to accomplish in my life, I want to see His favor and resources flowing. I had such a small revelation of God. I simply did not realize that He is constantly at work in my life.

God invites us to enter into His rest. No longer are we striving and writhing in our self-effort to make things happen, as though God is light-years away and uninterested in what we are doing.

I also remember at one point in my life, when I was drawing from unemployment less and less, then I was switching to giving more and sharing more. I found that I had plenty of money, and I even had enough to spend on others. At one job, I was an after-school tutor of sorts. I had my own classes and provided different types of lessons. When we had reached the end of the year, I purchased food for all the students.

It felt good to be able to give something. It just was nice to know that I had money--and that money did not have me!

Last week, I was struggling with a strange point of discussion. Would I be able to tithe?

The pastor was preaching on Malachi, the passage about robbing God and not holding back.

Of course, it's important to read every passage in the Old Testament in light of the Finished Work of Jesus Christ. We no longer have to worry about the curse our the devourer in our lives. Yet still we have the opportunity to "test" God, or at least allow Him to prove His generosity towards us.

When I tithed again this past Sunday, a sense of hope and relief swept over me.

I refused to be in bondage to a certain set of dollars in my wallet, pockets, or elsewhere. It's essential that we realize how money is the least of God's concerns, but rather that He wants us to prosper and be in health even as our souls prosper.

Yes, I Am a Mighty Man of God ... in Christ!

Ten years ago, I faced unparalleled challenges in my life.

Every day, I woke up as though everything in this world was on my shoulders.

Yes, I was saved, but from that point on everything depended on my. My life depended on my efforts, and I had to figure out everything that needed to be done and that was going to take place in my life.

For a year, I was attending one church, and I found that many of the people in the church were fractious gossips. It was very difficult to enjoy any kind of peace or prosperity.

But there was one woman, she was very encouraging to me, but at times I thought that she was just being nice for no good reason.

"Hey Arthur, you mighty man of God!" she would say to me.

I sure didn't feel mighty at that stage of my life. I felt loss, uncared for, useless.

I was so lost, not sure what to trust, what to believe, where to go in my life.

But she keep saying to me every time that I met her: "Hey Arthur, you mighty man of God."

This statement comes from Judges chapter 6, when the Angel of the Lord, a pre-incarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ, finds Gideon, the judge whom He would call to free Israel from the oppressive Midianites:

"And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour." (Judges 6:12)

God calls those things that are, even if they do not appear to us (Romans 4:17).

I heard this message today. Then I thought of that lady from the local church, and then I started criticizing her when she had been telling me that I was a mighty man of God, a mighty man of valor.

Then I started looking over everything that has been happening in my life since then.

Indeed, I have confronted bad politicians, corrupt elected officials on city councils, rogue police officers, Antifa. There have been bad press agents, large crowds of angry mobs, and in the past month alone I have spoke to different groups in different parts of the state of California.

Indeed, I have done mighty things, but it's all because of Jesus!

"20I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." (Galatians 2:20-21)

The more that I see Jesus, the less that I see myself, and thus the more mighty I have become. Indeed, when people speak out by faith, when they claim the promises which God has given us through His Son Jesus, they do come to pass.

We just need to spend more time looking at all the great things that Jesus has done. We need to not look only at our present trials and immediate needs. We need to see that Jesus, Him who has been from the beginning (1 John 2:12-14) is taking care of us in every way.

And indeed, He makes us mighty:

"Let the weak say, I am strong." (Joel 3:10)