{Hope for the Home}: Making PATIENCE Come Alive

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." Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. - John 11:1-6

Has this ever happened to you? You cry out to God, begging him to intervene on a situation in your life...and then nothing. You know good and well that he is the only one with the power to handle it and yet, nothing. His only answer (that you can conclude) is "wait."

Honestly, it can be so frustrating at times. You ask yourself, "why is he making me suffer...when is he going to work this out...what is he trying to teach me...why me?"

Sound familiar?

I know because I've been there.

Jesus did raise Lazarus from the dead. He knew all along what the outcome would be. He even cried with them in their suffering, because he loved them so much, and yet he still made them wait. Why?

I believe the answer lies in verse 40, when Jesus says...

 "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"

Jesus waited 4 days, until Lazarus was good and dead (odor and all), so that there was NO QUESTION it was God who raised him!

God always has a plan and it is always better than we could have ever imagined. Sometimes we have to wait on it and though the wait is hard, it is worth it in the end...to encounter God in a way unlike ever before, to see him in all his glory and to know without a doubt that it is him.

Family Activity for the Week...

Together as a family, start a prayer journal or a prayer box. In it, have each person write prayer requests (either on the journal pages or on slips of paper to be put inside the box). As time passes, go back and read the old requests to see how God has answered them in time. Then write out praises (in the journal or on the slips of paper), thanking him for his provision. It is truly amazing to see how God works things out to his glory, in his timing, in ways we never could have imagined...and yet they are better than we could have ever dreamed. What a mighty God we serve!

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

    neither are your ways my ways,” 

declares the Lord.

⁹ 

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, 

    so are my ways higher than your ways

    and my thoughts than your thoughts. - Isaiah 55:8-9

Did you do the peace challenge from last week?

Don't forget to hang your {Patience} fruit on your Fruit of the Spirit tree and display it in your home as a visual reminder for your family this week, as you focus on patience in your home. Go here to download the printables that go with our Making the Fruit of the Spirit Come Alive in Your Home series if you missed our introductory post. And go here  for Cat's tutorial on how to make your fruit printables into glass pebble magnets, so that you can hang your tree on the refrigerator.

Happy Monday, friends! Invite your friends to join us next week as we talk about KINDNESS!  :)

About the Author: Erin Vick Franklin is the founder and director of Worthy of the Prize. Erin has a BBA in Marketing and Management from TCU and a Masters of Christian Education in Church Recreation from Southwestern Seminary. She is a published, award-winning author and poet. Purchase her book Worthy of the Prize Sports Camps: A Church's Guide to Implementing an Effective, Community-Reaching Christian Sports Camp to be used as an outreach tool for your church or mission organization. Erin is the wife of A, a Worship Pastor, and a work-at-home-momma to 2 crazy little boys, a and e.