When Love Looks Late: Trusting God When He Seems Delayed

Devotional

Day 1: When Love Stays: Trusting the Delay

Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus deeply—yet chose to stay two more days after hearing Lazarus was sick. His delay felt like abandonment, but love sometimes moves counter to our expectations. God’s timing often stretches our understanding, inviting us to trust His heart over our need for immediacy. Waiting becomes sacred when we believe His love remains active even in stillness. The sisters’ crisis became a canvas for divine glory, proving love’s wisdom outweighs hurried fixes. [10:41]

“Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.”
(John 11:5-6, ESV)

Reflection: What situation makes God’s delay feel like distance? How might His love be actively shaping you in the waiting?

Day 2: Grave Clothes and Glory: Unwrapping Resurrection Hope

Lazarus’ resurrection required unwinding burial cloths—a messy, intimate process. God’s breakthroughs often come wrapped in discomfort, demanding our participation. What seems final to us is merely a setup for His power. Jesus didn’t just reverse death; He redefined what love looks like when all hope appears buried. Our “tombs” become testimonies when we obey His call to roll away stones. [29:16]

“He cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out.’ The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth.”
(John 11:43-44, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you accepted “grave clothes” as your identity? What might Jesus be asking you to unwrap to step into new life?

Day 3: Odor of Delay: Faith When the Situation Stinks

Martha protested the stench of Lazarus’ four-day tomb, but Jesus wasn’t deterred by decay. Our delays often accumulate emotional and spiritual odors—bitterness, doubt, resignation. God isn’t repelled by the mess; He’s waiting for our willingness to confront what we’ve sealed off. The worst moments become worship when we let Him speak into rot. [27:47]

“Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, ‘Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.’”
(John 11:39-40, ESV)

Reflection: What “odor” have you avoided confronting? How might opening that area to Christ’s voice bring unexpected healing?

Day 4: Developing in Darkness: Growth When You Can’t Track Progress

A baby forms in hiddenness—no progress bars, no updates. Our deepest spiritual growth often happens in seasons where God’s work is untraceable. Like Lazarus’ silent tomb, these periods feel like death but incubate resurrection. What feels like divine inactivity is actually sacred incubation. [25:12]

“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret.”
(Psalm 139:13-16, ESV)

Reflection: Where are you demanding visible progress? How might God be developing something essential in your hidden season?

Day 5: Still Believing: Worship Before the Stone Rolls Away

Mary and Martha worshipped while grieving, not knowing resurrection was coming. True faith praises when the tomb is still sealed, trusting love’s purpose over circumstances. Our declarations of “I still believe” dismantle despair’s grip. Every unanswered prayer is an invitation to anchor in God’s character, not outcomes. [33:42]

“For I am sure that neither death nor life… nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
(Romans 8:38-39, ESV)

Reflection: What closed “tomb” in your life needs you to declare God’s faithfulness over its silence? How can you worship while waiting for the stone to move?

Sermon Summary

The hurry-up world trains people to expect everything right now. Same day delivery, instant deposits, real time tracking, read receipts, and those little bubbles make life feel trackable. But prayer does not come with bubbles. Heaven does not send a notification saying the answer is typing. Waiting gets personal when God has the power, authority, and resources to fix it, but God does not move when expected.

John 11 brings that tension into the house of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Lazarus is sick, the sisters are worried, and the house that once had fellowship is full of fear. Mary and Martha send a short word to Jesus: “Lord, the one you love is sick.” Jesus receives the word and declares that the sickness will reveal the glory of God, but Mary and Martha do not hear that declaration. John places two troubling truths side by side: Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, and Jesus stayed where he was two more days. He loved them, but he stayed. He cared, but he stayed. He had the answer, but he stayed. While Jesus stayed, Lazarus died.

God’s love is personal. John does not simply say Jesus loved the family. John names Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, because God does not love as a crowd. God knows history, personality, strength, weakness, laughter, tears, and even the things hidden from everybody else. Yet being loved by God does not exempt a person from painful experiences. The presence of trouble does not prove the absence of love.

God’s love is purposeful. Jesus is not only looking at the crisis, but at what the crisis can produce. Mary and Martha want healing, but Jesus is preparing resurrection. They want to prevent a funeral, but Jesus is preparing to show authority even after the funeral. God may not explain the delay, but God does not waste the delay. Waiting teaches prayer without answers, worship without evidence, endurance without quick relief, and faith built on God’s character instead of encouraging evidence.

God’s love is powerful. By the time Jesus arrives, Lazarus has been in the tomb four days. Martha can say, “Lord, by now there is an odor,” but Jesus is not intimidated by the smell of dead things. What smells dead is still subject to the voice of Jesus. Jesus calls Lazarus by name, and the grave must release what it is holding. When love looks late, love is still on time, and whatever God has ordained to live cannot permanently be held by a tomb.

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Key Takeaways

1. Trouble does not cancel love God’s love is not measured by how easy life has been or how fast the answer came. Lazarus was loved and still became sick, Mary was loved and still grieved, Martha was loved and still carried questions. Temporary circumstances cannot measure eternal love, and God’s silence does not cancel God’s commitment. [15:00]
2. Waiting is never wasted God may not explain the delay, but God does not waste the delay. Waiting can teach prayer without an answer, worship without evidence, and endurance that quick relief could never produce. The delay may become the place where God removes every human bragging right so only God can receive the glory. [21:32]
3. Faith rests on God’s character Encouraging evidence is not the foundation of faith, because reports, numbers, calendars, and bank accounts can all look discouraging. God’s character remains faithful, wise, sovereign, present, loving, and working even when the work cannot be seen. Silence should not be mistaken for inactivity, because some of God’s deepest work develops in darkness. [24:37]
4. Jesus is not scared of dead things Martha saw the stone, the odor, and the passing of four days, but Jesus saw a tomb that still had to obey his voice. What looks too far gone is not too far gone for the resurrection and the life. The grave can hold something for a season, but it cannot veto what Christ commands to live. [28:11]
5. Come out and take it off Lazarus came out alive, but he still had grave clothes on him. New life requires the refusal to keep wearing fear, shame, condemnation, and the belief that the best days are behind. A living season should not be dressed in tomb clothes.

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:45] - A World Trained for Immediate Answers
[02:01] - Prayers Do Not Come With Tracking
[03:27] - When God Can Fix It But Waits
[07:20] - Mary, Martha, Lazarus, and the Emergency
[10:14] - Jesus Loved Them, But He Stayed
[12:38] - God’s Love Is Personal
[19:24] - God’s Love Is Purposeful
[21:32] - God Does Not Waste Waiting
[25:38] - God’s Love Is Powerful
[27:47] - Lord, By Now There Is an Odor
[29:16] - Lazarus, Come Out
[31:16] - Personal, Purposeful, and Powerful
[34:28] - When Love Looks Late
[37:25] - Invitation and Next Steps

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
John 11:1-44 (ESV)
The story of Lazarus’s sickness, death, and resurrection, highlighting Jesus’ delayed response, his love for the family, and the revelation of God’s glory.

Observation Questions

In John 11:5-6, the text says Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, yet he stayed two more days after hearing Lazarus was sick. What does this contrast reveal about how God’s love operates in difficult situations?
When Jesus arrives in Bethany, Martha says, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:21). How does her statement reflect her understanding of Jesus’ power before Lazarus’s death? [26:10]
What reason does Jesus give for delaying his arrival in Bethany (John 11:4, 15)? How does this connect to the sermon’s emphasis on God’s purposeful love?
Martha objects to opening Lazarus’s tomb because “by now there is an odor” (John 11:39). What does her concern suggest about her expectations of what Jesus could do? [27:47]

Interpretation Questions

Why might Jesus have emphasized calling Lazarus by name when raising him (John 11:43)? How does this detail reinforce the idea that God’s love is personal?
The sermon states, “Waiting teaches prayer without answers, worship without evidence, and endurance without quick relief.” How does Lazarus’s four days in the tomb illustrate this principle? [21:32]
Martha and Mary both tell Jesus, “If you had been here, he would not have died” (John 11:21, 32). What does this repeated statement reveal about their struggle to trust God’s timing?
The sermon says, “What smells dead to you is still subject to the voice of Jesus.” How does Lazarus’s resurrection challenge our assumptions about what is “too late” for God? [28:11]

Application Questions

The sermon emphasizes that “trouble does not cancel love.” What current situation in your life feels like a test of this truth? How can you actively remind yourself of God’s personal love in it?
Martha and Mary had to wait four days for Jesus’ intervention. What is a situation where you’ve felt God’s delay deeply? How might this waiting period be teaching you to rely on His character rather than immediate outcomes? [21:32]
The sermon challenges, “A living season should not be dressed in tomb clothes.” What “grave clothes” (e.g., fear, shame, past failures) are you still wearing that might hinder you from embracing new life?
Jesus wasn’t intimidated by the “odor” of Lazarus’s death. What “dead” areas in your life (relationships, dreams, habits) do you need to invite Jesus to speak into, even if they feel beyond hope? [28:11]
The sermon says, “Faith rests on God’s character, not encouraging evidence.” What practical step can you take this week to shift your focus from circumstantial evidence to God’s faithfulness?
How can you encourage someone in your life who feels God’s love is distant because of unanswered prayers? What truths from John 11 could you share with them?

Sermon Clips

86s

#LovedButSuffering

“``But here's the tension. Being loved by God does not exempt you from painful experiences. Lazarus was loved, but Lazarus still became sick. Mary was loved, but Mary still had to grieve. Martha was loved, but Martha still had to deal with unanswered questions. The presence of trouble does not prove the absence of love. Let me say that again. The presence of trouble does not prove the absence of love. You can be loved and still be disappointed. You can be favored and still be frustrated. You can be faithful and still face something. You can have a relationship with God and still have moments when God does not make sense.”

69s

#WaitingIsNotWasted

“Every delay does not mean God is going to give us exactly what we requested. Every painful situation does not end with the outcome we imagined. Sometimes resurrects what died. Sometimes God redirects us towards something new. Sometimes God removes the burden. Sometimes God gives us grace to carry what remains. But no matter how God chooses to work, God never waste waiting. God may not explain the delay, but he will not waste the delay. There are things you learn while you were waiting that you you you would have never learned if everything happened quickly.”

73s

#FaithWithQuestions

“Or one would say that faith meant we would never have questions. But faith is not the absence of questions. Faith is the decision to keep walking with God while you are carrying questions. Martha had questions. Mary had questions. The disciples had questions, but Jesus still loved them. And somebody needs to hear this. God's love for you is not measured how easy your life has been. God's love for you is not measured how quickly he answered. God's love for you is not measured by whether your story looks like somebody else's story. You cannot measure eternal love with temporary circumstances.”

53s

#FaithNotEvidence

“Some of us are in a place where evidence does not look encouraging. The numbers are not encouraging. The report is not encouraging. The calendar is not encouraging. The bank account is not encouraging. The attendance is not encouraging. The conversation is not encouraging, but your faith is not built on encouraging evidence. Your faith is built on the character of god. You may not understand what god is doing, but you do know who god is. He is faithful. He is wise. He is sovereign. He is present. He is loving. He is working even when you cannot see the work. You have got to stop assuming silence means inactivity.”

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When Love Looks Late: Trusting God When He Seems Delayed | John 11 Sermon