What if...

What if...

Each time we cried out, "Abba!"

He whispered "Your answer is coming."

Yet we couldn't - or weren't willing to - hear.

 

What if...

When we needed Him the most,

He was there, right there beside us?

Yet we weren't ready to accept His embrace.

 

What if...

When we cried ourselves to sleep,

He was willing to comfort and wipe our tears, 

Yet we would not be consoled.

 

What if...

Every time we asked for help, He said "Yes,"

Yet we couldn't accept the way He answered

- His absolute best -

and we said, "No."

 

Abba God, please don't let us be so caught up in our desires - whatever they are - that we want anything more than YOU. Give us the courage to throw off all hindrances, including what "we" think the answers should be. Change our perspectives. Give us strength to endure. Increase our faith. We can relate with Martha: we do believe that You can, yet we struggle in the waiting. We are disappointed when the answers aren't what we'd hoped for. Let our hearts be always soft toward You, and emptied of all that is not of You. We pray in Jesus' name - His powerful, pure, and faithful name.

 

So when [Jesus] heard that [Lazarus] was sick,

He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was.

John 11:6 

Martha then said to Jesus,

"Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."
John 11:21, NASB

(If you don't know the rest of the story, read the John 11: 22+. It's good stuff!)