Dear Ones:
When it comes to faith in Christ, we begin the journey of learning to think outside the box. I remember that my Dad would say, “You cannot put God in a box.” In other words, you cannot fit Him into your concepts, vision, and perspective. He is so much greater and more wonderful than we can comprehend, that even the Apostle Paul could not refrain himself from declaring, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out.” (Romans 11:33) It is for this reason that we must ALWAYS defer to His wisdom and knowledge, especially when it has to do with what He desires to do and when He will do it.
In Psalm 37:5, the Psalmist writes: “…Commit your way unto the Lord; trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” Please note that faith here is very deliberate and specific. It is the committal of all responsibility in a certain situation or person(s), and this concerning all of the unknowns and “variables.” It means submitting oneself to the authority of Christ, to believe Him as Lord to BE just that, LORD, GOD, and KING. This “faith” also means that, not only is there a position taken with respect to that which is prayed, and committed to Him, but that the position is kept, maintained, by a persevering attitude…patient endurance. And lastly, this faith lives in the expectation of the working of God, ACCORDING TO HIS WORD. The man who has committed the matter to God, and maintains that attitude, is the man who looks expectantly for God to work in His way, His time, for His glory. He WILL do it, for He said it.
In the story of the raising Lazarus from the dead, I am sure that, not only he, but also, Martha and Mary, had committed all that they were and had to Christ. They loved Him, and had taken Him to be their Lord. But though their faith was sincere and true, they needed to taught faith must never limit the Lord in what He intends to do, or when He will do it. Lazarus dies, and Jesus waits four days to come on the scene. He deliberately delayed. Why? It is quite evident by the reaction of Mary and Martha at His return, that they did NOT understand the delay. “Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” (Jn. 11:21) But the delay was necessary, even though the sorrow known during the delay was great. Christ will use this circumstance, in speaking of the resurrection, to reveal to Martha one of the most extraordinary, and far-reaching truths in the Bible: “I AM the resurrection and the life; He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” The “delay” was necessary to enforce this.
When Jesus went to the tomb, Jesus said to Martha, “Take ye away the stone.” (v. 39) If ever there was a “thinking outside of the box, ” it was revealed at this moment. Martha stayed within the box. “Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.” It is at this point that the Lord Jesus, in a manner of speaking, takes Martha by the hand in order to lead her in her faith beyond “…what she can ask or think, ” into the realm of the glory of God, and that which is only possible to God. “If thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God.” (v. 40)
God’s delays are sometimes not God’s denials. And one thing we can be certain of…what we commit to Him must be with faith that gives Him the liberty to act in His time, for His purposes, as it will most certainly exceed “what we can ask of think.” It was Samuel Rutherford who wrote, “…God (always) purposeth a crop.” In other words, God is always purpose-oriented, with intentions and objectives beyond our own, and this, in order to reveal to us, and to those around us, that He is God. So, let us not put God in a box, by our little concepts and limited thinking. Let us give Him the “open field, ” to do all that is in His heart, in His time, for His glory. He will not fail.
Love, Dad