Written by Lisa Schroder

Have you heard the saying that God often moves in the midnight hour?? It’s a really great thought but what happens when midnight comes and goes and still the miracle hasn’t arrived? When we pray, we want God to answer our prayers immediately. He does answer us quickly on many occasions, but then on other occasions He also decides to wait.

There is a beautiful story in the Bible that tells about two sisters, Mary and Martha who were desperate for a miracle. Their brother Lazarus was very sick. Jesus needed to come quickly and heal him. They had seen his power, and they had faith that he would heal their brother if only he would come and lay hands on him. They were holding out for their midnight miracle.

“Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”” John 11:1-3 NIV

Instead of rushing to his bedside, Jesus chose to wait a few days. When finally he arrived, days later, Lazarus was already dead four days. The sisters where broken-hearted, and the whole town was in mourning.
Martha ran to Jesus saying ““Lord,…if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” John 11:21 NIV. This was the first time in the Bible that Jesus had “missed it”. His opportunity for the miracle had come and gone, and now it was too late. Her friend and her God had let her down. “If only you had been here Jesus.”

God’s timing is so very different to our own. While we move to human time, He is above time.
You see, circumstances do not limit God. He commands the wind and the waves. He has all power and authority.
There is NO circumstance that God will look at and say… “this one is too hard.” But the other beautiful thing is God is not limited by TIME either. When we think it is too late. God says, “This is where my Glory really gets to shine.”

“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.” John 11:26 NIV
He then walks to the tomb and raises Lazarus from the dead. (John 11:38:43)
God specializes in bringing things to life. He is the master at taking what is dead and bringing life to it. He takes broken marriages and restores them. He takes the abused and puts them back together. He takes the forgotten dreams and lets them live. He takes broken bodies and heals them.

If you think that your midnight hour has come and gone, then be encouraged that we serve a God who gives life. He is not limited by time or circumstance. So today, let your faith rise and say:
“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.” 2 Corinthians 1:20