When God Doesn’t Answer Prayers as We Expected - The Crosswalk Devotional - February 2
When God Doesn’t Answer Prayers as We Expected
By Jennifer Slattery
Bible Reading:
Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”
When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” John 11:1-4
Have you ever felt certain God assured you that He’d answer a prayer, present you with a specific opportunity, or work in a relationship in a particular way, only to find your hopes dashed? Those situations can cause us to doubt God’s faithfulness or our ability to hear Him. It can also trigger anger, as it did with a recent guest on the Faith Over Fear podcast. While grieving years of infertility, she read a passage in Scripture where God promised to bring beauty and abundance to desert wastelands. Through this, she believed the Lord would give her a child. When that didn’t occur, she initially became upset with God. But then, He drew her back to that passage and helped her understand His intended message.
I thought of her experience as I read Jesus’ words in John 11:4—and the events that followed. When Mary and Martha sent word of their brother’s illness, He responded quite clearly that Lazarus would not die.
That likely brought them such encouragement as they waited, and waited, for Jesus, the Healer, to come. They probably clung to the hope the Lord spoke into their souls right to the end, up to their brother’s final breath.
How their hearts must’ve shattered in that moment. What anguished questions flooded their minds as they washed his body with ointment, wrapped it with cloth, and placed it in the tomb.
Notice what we read in verse 20: “When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home” (NIV). This strikes me as uncharacteristic when I consider Mary’s behavior previously, when she and her sister hosted Jesus and His disciples for a meal. Then, she defied the social rules of her day and Martha’s expectations to sit, listening, at the Lord’s feet (Matthew 10:38-42).
But now, when the One upon whom she’d placed her hope arrives, she remains home, until she learns that He asked for her. Then, she quickly goes to Him and says, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (v. 33, NIV).
In other words, “Where were You?”
Based on the fact that Martha said the exact same thing in verse 21, I wonder if perhaps multiple people made this statement as they awaited Jesus’ arrival. Notice, also, how some of the Jews who came to comfort the sisters reacted, when the Lord approached Lazarus’s tomb. They said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” (V. 37, NIV).
I doubt this was the first time. They couldn’t understand why Jesus hadn’t rushed to help Lazarus. Some of them decided this meant that He didn’t care (v.36-37).
Perhaps there’s a part of you that feels the same. Maybe your circumstances feel so dire, so final, you’ve stopped asking God for help.
I suspect Mary had as well. This is why this biblical account in John 11 is so beautiful and inspiring. Arriving at Lazarus’s tomb, Jesus commanded the people to role away the stone and “called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” Verse 44 states: “The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
Intersecting Life & Faith:
I’m struck by how Jesus responded to Martha and Mary’s statement, which reads like an accusation: “Lord, if you had been here, our brother wouldn’t have died” (John 11:21, 32, paraphrased).
Jesus didn’t chastise the sisters for their questions, doubts, and inner wrestling. He didn’t rebuke them for their lack of faith, nor did He downplay their grief. Instead, He showed them His glory and brought life to that which was dead.
This demonstrates that no situation is beyond God’s resurrecting power. But that’s not its only message. This biblical account also suggests how we should respond when something we believe God promised doesn’t seem to come to pass. It’s okay to feel angry and to wrestle with God, as I’m sure Mary did in between His promise in verse 4 and Lazarus’s walking out of his grave. But may we take our doubts and intense emotions to the only One who can bring clarity to our confusion and rekindled hope to our hurting souls.
Further Reading:
Psalm 42:5-11
Romans 15:13
Matthew 5:4
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/tommaso79
Jennifer Slattery is a writer and speaker who co-hosts the Faith Over Fear podcast and, along with a team of 6, the Your Daily Bible Verse podcast. She’s addressed women’s groups, Bible studies, and taught at writers conferences across the nation. She’s the author of Building a Family and numerous other titles and maintains a devotional blog at JenniferSlatteryLivesOutLou
She’s passionate about helping people experience Christ’s freedom in all areas of their lives. Visit her online to learn more about her speaking or to book her for your next women’s event, and sign up for her free quarterly newsletter HERE and make sure to connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and GodTube.
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Related Resource: 3 Simple Steps to Manage Your Emotions
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