Delays...GRRRRR

"When He heard therefore that he was sick, He abode two days still in the same place where He was." John 11:6

I hate delays. I hate getting stuck in traffic. I hate even more getting delayed at the airport because it inevitably means I'm going on a tour of the country before I arrive at my destination. I hate when things don't start on time, okay, I think you get the picture, I hate delays. Yet in this verse we find Jesus waiting two whole days after He heard the news of Lazarus' death before going to Bethany. Those were two days He could have done something, yet He chose to wait? Why? There was something Martha needed to learn and it could only be learned once Lazarus was dead. Jesus delayed so the circumstances would be as He needed them to be for Him to work. Martha needed to learn that Jesus had immediate power over death; it was essential to her understanding of His resurrection and she wasn't going to learn that from Lazarus merely being healed. Lazarus had to die before Jesus could act.
     I am sure it felt to Mary and Martha that Jesus had simply ignored their request for Him to come. Four days passed before He arrived, days in which they watched their brother die, days in which they buried him, days in which they saw all hope vanish. Because it is May, it feels some days that God simply isn't listening anymore. Then I read this story and see that God isn't ignoring my requests, He's merely waiting for the circumstances to be just the way He needs them for Him to work. I just know there is something big God wants to do in the lives of these kids and things have to be just right for that to happen. I don't know everything God is having to orchestrate to bring this about, perhaps I'd be more sympathetic and less demanding if I did. I need to allow God the time He requires to get everything He has planned in place, that way this will be all that I had hoped for my students and so much more. If I rush Him, what will they miss out on?
      Actually, come to think of it, from God's point of view, there has been no delay, this has all been right on His schedule all along, just like Jarius' daughter and just like Lazarus.