Scripture: John 11
Song: Never Lost by Elevation Worship
Some situations don’t just look hard. They look closed. Finished. Like life has already written “The End” and everyone has accepted it. That was Lazarus. Mary and Martha didn’t delay. They sent for Jesus early. They didn’t even send a long message. They simply said, “Lord, the one You love is sick.” In their mind, that should have been enough.
But Jesus did not rush. There are moments you do the right thing, pray the right prayer, and still feel like God is not moving at the speed you expected. The delay can feel personal. It can make you wonder if you did something wrong. It can make you feel forgotten. Lazarus didn’t just remain sick. He died. And when Jesus finally arrived, Lazarus had been in the grave four days. Four days means the story had moved beyond “pray for him” to “bury him.” It had moved beyond hope into a kind of finality that even faith struggles to argue with.
Yet, Jesus came. He didn’t come to sympathize from a distance. He came to step into the impossibility. The first thing He did was not to shout. He asked a question: “Where did you lay him?”. This means, Bring Me to the exact matter. Don’t hide it behind general prayers. Don’t cover it with ‘God knows.’ Show Me the place where you buried your expectation.”
This is where many lives can change for good. Sometimes we pray with broad language because we are tired, or because we feel ashamed, or because we don’t even know how to explain the pain. So instead of praying in the air, tell Him plainly, “Jesus, this debt is the matter. This delay is the matter. This sickness is the matter. This family crisis is the matter. This confusion in my mind is the matter.”
Then, Martha said what many people say when they’ve waited too long: “Lord… by now it smells.” That sentence is a whole message. It’s not just about Lazarus. It’s about disappointment. It’s the voice of this has stayed too long, it’s too late, nothing will change. Some situations have been there long enough that they now have a “smell” in your mind. Your confidence smells. Your joy smells. Your expectations smell. You’ve been disappointed so many times that you now speak like defeat is wisdom.
But Jesus was not intimidated by the smell. He didn’t deny the reality; He simply refused to let reality be the final authority. That’s what faith does. Faith is not pretending the problem is small. Faith is knowing that Jesus is bigger. So when your mind tells you “too late,” you answer it with truth: “Jesus is not afraid of time. He can still step in.” When fear tells you “this is the end,” you answer it: “This is not the end if Jesus is present.” Don’t let the smell talk you out of your miracle.
After that, Jesus did what He always does: He spoke. He released a living word. “Lazarus, come out!” That is the heart of the impossible. Jesus doesn’t only comfort you while you cry. He calls you out of what has been holding you. What you call “dead” may be your energy, your vision, your passion, your desire to try again, your ability to trust, your confidence to apply, your strength to start over. Jesus can bring it back to life by giving you a word that rebuilds you from the inside. Sometimes He revives what is dead by giving direction, sending the right people, opening a door your strength could not open, or closing the door that kept draining you. In every case, His help becomes visible in decisions, steps, and outcomes.
So, if help feels late, don’t just sit in disappointment. Bring Jesus to the exact matter. Refuse to let the smell become your conclusion. Hold on to His word and speak faith again. Then, a delayed story becomes an obvious testimony.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I bring You to this matter in my life. Although, it feels late, I believe You can still help me. Where disappointment has produced hopelessness, strengthen me. Speak life over what I thought was finished, bring to life every impossibility, and call me out of every pit and every cycle. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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