The Time

“Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify You”  (John 17:1 NIV).

Think of what “the time” meant to Jesus: betrayal of one who walked with Him for 3 years, injustice through the court system, flogging, mocking, beatings, His best friends abandoning and denying Him, nails driven through His hands and feet, intense physical pain from hanging on a cross, His Father turning His back on Him, the emptiness and pain of the sins of the world, the wrath of God, and finally death.  To Jesus, “the time” was also an opportunity to bring glory to His Father.

A friend of mine had “the time” to bring glory to God.  We worked together for several years during which we frequently traveled together.  Those times gave us many opportunities to talk about Jesus, what was going on in our lives, and pray.  Gina always had a fresh story to tell of what Christ was doing in and around her.  God was preparing her for “the time”.

Her husband Mark was not a Christian.  She told me that she would cry out for God to remove the veil from his eyes so that he might see Jesus as Lord and Savior.  She prayed for the day they could attend church together and worship hand in hand.  In many of our conversations, we talked about God’s timing, how it is perfect but many times not the same as ours.  Gina dreamed about her and Mark having a ministry together, going on missions, and worshiping together.   Still she would say, “I will submit to God’s timing.”

God heard Gina’s cries and granted this prayer warrior’s request.  Mark’s heart softened, and he took Jesus as his Savior.  Finally, the time had come to sing praises together!  Many brothers and sisters in Christ on earth joined the Angels in heaven in joyous celebration.
 
Tragically, the earthly celebration would last only a short time.  Mark died one evening while driving his motorcycle home after work.  “The time” had come for Gina to bring glory to her Father.  We watched her come even closer to Jesus relying on Him for strength and comfort.  She again cried out to Him, this time for our God to bring glory to Himself by using the death of Mark to pluck others from a Christless eternity.

The funeral was one of the most touching I ever heard.  Jesus was lifted up, the gospel shared, and God glorified.  The Word went out and it did not return void.  God did indeed use this tragic time in Gina’s life to bring glory to Himself, making an eternal difference in many lives.  A CD was produced from Mark’s funeral and Gina began sending it to people all over the country.  We will not know the number of lives changed through “the time” in Gina’s life until we are in heaven with Jesus.

In the Bible, Mary and Martha experienced “the time.”  Their brother, Lazarus, was sick, and they called for Jesus to heal him.  The response they received was total silence.  In their world they saw their brother suffer then die.  They went through the burial and for days they grieved. There was no hope.  If only Jesus had heard their plea and come.

However, in Jesus’ world it was an opportunity to bring glory to His Father.  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” (John 11:4).  Then speaking to the disciples he said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”  His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.”  Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.  So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe.  But let us go to him.”  (John 11:11-14)

To Mary and Martha it was possibly the longest most painful week of their lives.  It was a time of crying out to the One they knew had the power to remove the hurt and replace it with joy.  It was a time of silence, pain, and grief.  But then God revealed His plan and did immeasurably more than they could think or imagine.

Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”
So they took away the stone.  Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.  I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”  When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”  The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.  Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”  (John 11:40-44)

Mary and Martha witnessed the power of God and their lives filled with a greater faith, hope, and joy in Jesus than they had ever known.  “The time” had come for God to be glorified.

The morning I began writing this article, I read John 17.  I had to ask myself, am I ready for “the time” in my life that might bring me pain and my Father glory?  It may come in the way of a friend betraying me, a corrupt court, physical pain, persecution, or even death of a loved one.  Will I look up and ask that God get the glory?