The Opportune Moment

The Opportune Moment

Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

John 11: 21,32

How differently do we view things than the way in which God sees them. Our text for today is the same phrase, coming from the mouths of two different women, referring to the same circumstance. They both say, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ This is an expression of loss. There was, in their minds lost opportunity, lost time, lost life, and lost hope. They were utterly bereft, grieving, and forlorn. It was at this low point of their experience that Christ appeared. They were so wrought up in their souls, that Martha, the practical sister, as well as Mary, the emotional sister, both arrived at the same conclusion and articulated it to Christ, with perhaps even some tone of mild reproach. Christ bears their tone. He is the Rock upon which the turbulent waves of our emotion break. He bears these things patiently, all the while knowing what He will do. We think that God does not move quickly enough, yet He moves according to His Own plan and purpose in order that we might come to know Him better. What seems to us to be a late arrival, after things have gone so far that, in our minds they can never come good, is in fact, God’s opportune moment. He knows when to appear. Often, He does so after we have gone well past the end of our hope and expectation. In the execution of His Own Great Plan for our good and His Glory, Christ is never late, He arrives at the opportune moment.

Our most Holy and Wise Savior,
we rejoice that you are often early,
but that You are never late.
We praise You, that You are the God of perfect timing,
and that You perform all things after the counsel of Your Will.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning