Just last month, our good friends and missionaries, Jason and Cindy, living in a suburb west of Sydney, shared a testimony of a miracle God did in their situation.
They owned an old car that served them well. They also knew that they would embark on a 2,500 km journey to Cairns at the end of the year. It came time for the regular six-month car registration renewal and annual roadworthy certificate, and two days before the due date, they received funds to get it registered. However, the car needed repairs to pass the roadworthy inspection.
The registration expired. It appeared that God was late. However, it was not a complete loss because there was still the three-month grace period to register the vehicle – weeks passed with no sign of registering it.
They had also applied for a casual job, and a vehicle was a requirement for the job. When applying for the job, this was not an issue. They also encountered all sorts of obstacles with the job application process.
The last day of the three-month grace period came. Cindy regularly checked the letterbox in case someone dropped some funds off in an envelope; that night, she frequently checked their bank account. She stayed up until midnight, nothing came. It seemed that God was well and truly late.
God spoke to Jason that night and to Cindy the following morning about Jesus resurrecting Lazarus from the dead. Like Martha and Mary, they had the thought that if the Lord had shown up “on time”, the car would be registered. But the Holy Spirit pointed out to Jason and Cindy, separately,
5Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6So when He heard that he was sick He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was.
John 11:5-6 (Emphasis added)
Because He loved them, He delayed going to them. Jason also heard the Lord clearly, “I will be glorified.”
The Jewish people of Lazarus’ day believed that once a person died, their spirit stayed with their body for three days. They believed that after the third day, there could be no resurrection. Jesus purposely did not come to heal Lazarus when he was sick, and even when Lazarus died, he delayed in coming. Martha said,
“Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
John 11:21
Then the other people added, saying,
“Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?”
John 11:37
They could not understand why Jesus did not come before it was “too late.” He had waited until the fourth day.
Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.”
John 11:39
Impossible situations are opportunities for miracles, and God is glorified. Jason and Cindy, by law, surrendered their vehicle’s number plates, but they knew in their hearts that God was going to do something on the fourth day.
The fourth day came, Sunday. They thought they would receive money to get their car registered and repaired, and they assumed it would probably come from at least one person during church, but this was not the case. No one at church gave them money.
Then after church, and out of the most unlikely source, Jason and Cindy were informed that they would get another car. They were gobsmacked. That evening, on the fourth day, a 2023 Toyota Rav-4 Hybrid with 1,070 km on the “clock”, pulled into their driveway. The couple went to the dealership to buy Jason and Cindy a car and when they learned that this car had arrived on the lot earlier that day, they knew it was the one God wanted Jason and Cindy to have. Later Jason and Cindy heard from other friends who wanted to buy exactly the same make and model but were told that there was a two-year waiting list because of COVID.
There is a reason why God delays in coming through in a situation. With Lazarus, we know that Jesus could have gone and healed him, but He waited because God wanted to do something greater than what the people were wanting or expecting.
Jesus said to her [Martha], “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
John 11:40
God will be glorified! Jesus wanted to reveal Himself as the Resurrection and the Life.
Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”
John 11:24-26
Jason and Cindy were overwhelmed, and in addition to the gift of the new car, the people who delivered it also delivered a message, “The Lord wants you to know that you have had second-best long enough. Now it is time that you get His best.” God’s plans were far greater than they imagined or expected. The situation got to the point where it was impossible, making way for the miracle. God was glorified and continues receiving glory as Jason and Cindy testify to all their family and friends who journeyed with them of how God brought about his miracle. And the application for the job that they applied for went through and was approved!
Jason and Cindy’s words to us were, “Sometimes our deadline is not God’s deadline. We thought He was late, but He knew the plans He had for us all along, plans for Him to be glorified.”
Mary, Martha, and all the people with Jesus believed that Jesus should have come to heal Lazarus before he died, and they had it in their minds that once the third day was past, Lazarus couldn’t live again. As Bible teacher and theologian Dr. Kevin Zadai said, “The impossibilities are opportunities for a miracle,” and God is glorified.
We often sing songs for God to be glorified in our lives, and we pray for God to reveal His glory through our lives. But what is our response when something has completely died and stinks? What if something has to die to where it seems impossible to ever be resurrected?
Resurrection can only occur when there has been a death.
Prayer (Adapted from Ephesians 1:17-23 TPT) Jesus, Thank you for how You revealed Yourself as the Resurrection and the life when You resurrected Lazarus from the dead. Thank you for how You revealed Yourself through Jason and Cindy when You blessed them with the car that they needed. You truly do supply all our needs. Forgive me for all the ways I have expected You to work in my life. Forgive me for not trusting You, for not believing in You. Father of glory the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, I ask that you will impart to me the riches of the Spirit of wisdom and the Spirit of revelation to know You through my deepening intimacy with You. I ask that Your light will illuminate the eyes of my imagination, flooding me with light, until I experience the full revelation of the hope of my calling, that is, the wealth of Your glorious inheritance that You find in me, Your holy one. I ask to continually experience the immeasurable greatness of Your power made available to me through faith. Then my life will be an advertisement of Your immense power as it works through me! This mighty power was released when You rose Christ from the dead and exalted Him to the place of highest honour and supreme authority in the Heavenly realm! Jesus, You are exalted as first above every ruler, authority, government, and realm of power in existence! You are gloriously enthroned over every name that is ever praised, not only in this age, but in the age that is coming! You alone are the leader and source of everything needed in the church. Everything has been put beneath Your authority and You have been given the highest rank above all others. And now we, Your church, are Your body on the earth. Amen.