God's Higher Plan in Our Disappointment

Don’t let failure or disappointment cut you off from God or make you think the future is hopeless. When God closes one door, He often opens another—if we seek it. Billy Graham

In the town of Bethany, Lazarus, a close friend of Jesus, is gravely ill. His sisters, Mary and Martha, are distraught. They feel helpless as they watch the life of their brother slipping away. They know that Jesus is the only One who can help them, who can heal their brother. So they send word to Jesus, expecting Him to come. To come immediately and save their dying brother. But when Jesus receives Mary and Martha’s message, He doesn’t rush off to save his dying friend’s life. He stays where He was for two more days (John 11:1-7).

While Mary and Martha wait expectantly for Jesus to arrive, their hope fades into disappointment as their brother finally slips away. As they grieve, their sorrow is mingled with deep disappointment. Questions fill their minds. “Why did He, the One they trusted, not come to help them in their hour of need? Did He really love Lazarus? Has He lost His power to heal?”

While they reel from their loss, Jesus is on His way to Bethany to do a greater miracle. A miracle for the glory of God and so that the Son may be glorified through it (John 11:4). When Martha finally sees Jesus, she says,

“Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” John 21:22 (NKJV)

When Jesus arrives at the tomb, he asks His Father to hear His prayer and raise Lazarus from the dead. As He speaks life into Lazarus’s dead body, Lazarus comes alive to the amazement of all who witness this stunning miracle.

Exceedingly Abundantly

When Mary met Jesus after Lazarus died, she expressed her deep disappointment: “Lord, my brother died; where were You? I don’t understand?” But then she immediately expresses her faith in Him. Even in that moment when, in the natural, there was no hope, she believes that Jesus will come through for her. She believes He will do the impossible. She believes in His miracle-working power.

When we experience disappointment, we become discouraged. We tend to focus on our disappointment. We tend to focus on those who have disappointed us. We forget to ask God what He wants to say to us in our disappointment. What if the things we have been longing for and haven’t seen come to fruition yet are not part of God’s sovereign plan for us? What if He has a different plan? A higher plan? A plan that will glorify Him? Let us, like Mary, trust God to meet us in our disappointments so He can have His way in our lives and accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.  Ephesians 3:20-21 (NKJV)

Reflection:

Will you ask God to meet you in your disappointments so that He can show you His higher plan?

Prayer:

Lord, You see my disappointments that have brought discouragement and disillusionment. I give them to You. I invite You into this place of disappointment. Show me Your higher plan so I can walk in it. In Jesus’ name, amen.