8/09/25 If You Had Been Here

Takeaway: Even when God doesn’t show up the way we expect, He is never absent.

Opening Prayer (Saturday)

Father, thank You for the gift of rest. As I slow down today, help me to find peace in You. Restore my soul, deepen my faith, and renew my joy in Your presence. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Reflection

Martha’s words to Jesus in John 11 are soaked in grief and disappointment. She believed in Jesus, believed in His power to heal, and was certain that had He arrived earlier, everything would have been different. But Jesus didn’t come when they called. He delayed. Lazarus died. And with that loss came the unraveling of hope. This unraveling wasn’t because Martha stopped believing in Jesus, but because He didn’t show up in the way or time she had expected. That is a moment many of us know too well. When the prayer goes unanswered, when the healing doesn’t come, when the job falls through, when the relationship ends, or the door slams shut, we find ourselves echoing Martha’s words: “If you had been here, Lord. . .”

There’s something so uniquely human about the honesty of Martha’s lament. It doesn’t hide behind religious language or pretend everything is fine. It’s real. And God can handle that kind of honesty. But what’s more interesting is Jesus’ response. He doesn’t rebuke her for doubting or for her of lacking faith. Instead, He gently speaks hope into her grief. “Your brother will rise again.” The best comfort she can muster was acknowledging that on the last day, with everyone else, he would rise again. But Jesus invites her to something deeper: “I am the resurrection and the life.” In other words, resurrection is not just a future hope, it is a present reality bound up in the person of Christ. Martha was waiting for a moment; Jesus offers Himself.

When God doesn’t show up the way we expect, it’s easy to assume He hasn’t shown up at all. But that’s not true. God is not absent in our delays, and He is not indifferent in our disappointments. Often, He is doing something we cannot yet see, weaving redemption through loss, resurrection through death. Jesus wasn’t late to Bethany. He showed up at the right on time for what God intended to reveal. In the waiting, God was preparing something greater than a healing. He was preparing a new breath of life, something that would display the glory of God in a way no one anticipated.

This passage invites us to trust not just in what God can do, but in who God is. Jesus didn’t promise Martha that life would be predictable or pain-free. But He promised Himself: His presence, His power, His life. And that’s still His promise to us. When we find ourselves between what we prayed for and what God seems to be doing, may we hold on to the One who is the resurrection and the life. He may not show up how we imagined, but He always shows up as exactly who we need.

Questions

Have you ever found yourself saying, “Lord, if you had been here…” in a moment of disappointment or loss?

What might it look like to trust more in who God is rather than what you hope He will do?

Application

Reflect on an area in your life where God hasn’t shown up the way you expected. Instead of focusing on what didn’t happen, take time to look for where Jesus is offering Himself in the waiting, in His peace, His nearness, His life. Practice leaning into trusting His timing and presence, even when the outcome is uncertain.

Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus, thank You for meeting me in my moments of disappointment with compassion and grace. Help me to see You not just as the One who can change my circumstances, but as the God who simply is, and always near. Strengthen my faith to trust in Your presence, even when Your timing confuses me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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