Driving up Silver Creek Valley Road is not fun anymore. Not that it was ever fun like Disneyland but now it’s a nightmare. There’s a sign on Silver Creek Valley Road that almost every driver never wants to see: Expect Delays. Even though the sign truthfully lets us know what to expect, I usually expect something different. “Maybe it won’t be that bad,” I think. Wrong again. One lane, bumper to bumper, tack on an extra 15 minutes to travel…their sign was right and my hopes are dashed.
I don’t like delays. I don’t like them while I’m driving and I don’t like them at the Doctor’s office either. Usually, your doctor’s appointments are never on time, right? That’s why they have a waiting room. Expect delays.
I don’t relish delays in my spiritual journey either. I want to see my prayers answered immediately. I want my fear allayed now. I would prefer instant help from the Lord. Have you ever prayed, “Hurry up Lord!” Someone wrote that God is never late, He’s never early, He’s always on time. Really? In my experience it seems otherwise. Sometimes it feels like God is late, at least from my perspective. I know God’s timetable is way different from mine. I know He’s above and beyond my time continuum. So, when it comes to answered prayers, instant help, should I expect delays? Is there a reason for delays? Can anything good come from a spiritual delay in my life? Yes. Let me share three stories from the Gospels where Jesus is seemingly delayed and the lesson learned from each.
Matthew 14: 22-32 records the story of Jesus walking on the water. Jesus stays behind on the shore and made his disciples get into the boat. Jesus was praying on the hillside while his disciples were straining at the oars in a boat against the wind. John records the same story in his gospel (chapter 6) and indicates that they were 3 ½ miles out. Picture these exhausted followers making no headway against a storm and no doubt wondering, “Where is Jesus?” Matthew says that Jesus came to them during the fourth watch of the night. The ancient world divided night time into four parts and the “fourth watch” started at 3 a.m. and ended at 6 a.m. So these guys get into the boat “when evening came” and Jesus shows up sometime between 3 and 6 a.m. Expect delays! Why did Jesus wait? Why didn’t he come to them at 8 p.m.? I believe the answer to those questions lies in the text where Jesus says, “Take courage. It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Jesus was maturing his followers by deepening their perseverance. As James points out, “The testing of our faith develops perseverance” (James 1:3). James goes on to say that perseverance matures us and completes us. Even though the disciples couldn’t see Jesus, Jesus could always see them. What seemed like a delay was really developing their spiritual character.
In Mark 5: 21-43 another apparent delay by Jesus. In this story, Jesus is on his way to heal a synagogue ruler’s daughter and is delayed in getting there. Jesus is delayed because he stopped to heal another woman. Some men came from the house of Jairus, the ruler, and informed him that his daughter had already died. They uttered some words that all of us may be familiar with, “Why bother the teacher anymore?” Sometimes delays can leave us erroneously thinking that we shouldn’t bother Jesus with our problems. Jesus tells Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” That’s another reason we experience spiritual delays – they deepen our faith in Jesus. Help us Lord to take these words to heart during delays, “I’m not going to be afraid, I’m going to believe”.
John 11:1-44 we read where Jesus raises his friend Lazarus from the dead, after a 4 day delay. But Jesus makes it clear from the beginning of this story what this delay is all about. John 11:4 says, “When he heard this, Jesus said, ‘This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” Sometimes what seems to be a delay to us is just another avenue for God to get glory.
To everyone else, it seemed as if Christ had arrived too late. But Jesus was keeping His own clock. His delays are His ways of strengthening my courage in Him, deepening my faith in Him and getting glory for His Name and His truth.
On the road you can expect delays. Likewise, in our spiritual journeys we can also expect delays. I don’t like being delayed spiritually but I need it. “Take courage, just believe, it’s for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it”. These are the eternal words from our timely Savior that are for our good.

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord (Psalm 27:14),
Pastor Tim