When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” (John 11:20-22)
One of the most interesting-troubling-confusing aspects of our relationship with God is timing. God is eternal and at least for now we are fixed in time; we are looking forward to eternity, but God is acting in the here and now. Jesus’ friends Mary and Martha are two sisters we know something about. Martha is the active one, and Mary is more passive. Mary apparently is OK waiting for Jesus and Martha wants to make things happen. Whichever one you are, do you have trouble with the other kind? Do you have the same trouble with God — that God always seem to be either too slow or too aggressive in your life? Fast or slow, I have to come to the realization that God’s timing is — by definition — exactly right, which means my impatience or foot-dragging is wrong. I need to love God enough to respect divine-timing as yet another expression of God’s love.
Lord, I don’t know why I assume our relationship should be easy, as different as we are. Your love means your timing is always best for me. I want to express my love for you by respecting your superior sense of timing today. Amen.
