"if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”.....part 1

John 11:1-7 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 And it was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3 The sisters therefore sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick." 4 But when Jesus heard it, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified by it." 5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. 6 When therefore He heard that he was sick, He stayed then two days longer in the place where He was. 7 Then after this He said^ to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again."

John 11:17-21 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off; 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother. 20 Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet him; but Mary still sat in the house. 21 Martha therefore said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."

Many a times we have cried out where is our God? He needs to be here! I need him now! Where is he I need him to fight for me! I want Him to be here now! where is He?......And when we wait and he doesn't show up at the time we scheduled for him....we become bitter and we become angry and we say......if He was here my mother will not have died, if He was here my father would not have died, if He was here my business will not have died, if He had been here my child would not have died, if he had been here I would have gotten that job! if he had been here.......

Even in the bible the people of God asked........

2 Ki 2:14 And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and struck the waters and said, "Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?" 

Job 35:10 "...Where is God my Maker, Who gives songs in the night,"

Jer 2:6 "...Where is the LORD Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, Who led us through the wilderness..."

Jer 2:8 "... Where is the LORD? ...

Micah 7:10 "Then my enemy will see, And shame will cover her who said to me, ’Where is the LORD your God?"...

Psa 79:10 "Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?...."

Joel 2:17 "... Why should they among the peoples say, ’Where is their God?’"

Jer 17:15 Look, they keep saying to me, "Where is the word of the LORD?.."

"I will say to God my rock, "Why hast Thou forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?" 10 As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me, While they say to me all day long, "Where is your God?" (Psalms 42:9-11)

WHERE IS GOD? This is a question that is often asked of God? I doubt if anyone would seriously entertain the idea of God being lost! This is impossibility. If God were ever lost, He would not be God. For He is omniscient: "All knowing"; and He is omnipresent: "everywhere". Inasmuch as He is everywhere --- it is impossibility for Him to ever be lost! And so it seems to me that the real issue is: "WHERE IS GOD?!" Where was Jesus when He was needed the most and where is God when we need Him the most?

Sometimes we doubt our God knows what He is doing. We doubt that He knows the end from the beginning; you see when Jesus was leaving for Judea. He knew why he tarried and what he was going to do ;John 11:11-13 This He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, that I may awaken him out of sleep." 12 The disciples therefore said to Him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover." 13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep.

I want to answer that question this morning: "Where is God", we ask. The scripture gives us the answer:

Gen 28:15 "And behold, I am with you, and will keep you wherever you go,..." 

Exo 33:14 "My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest."

Deu 20:1 "When you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you."

Josh 1:5 "No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you."

Isa 54:10 "For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, And My covenant of peace will not be shaken," Says the LORD who has compassion on you."

Mat 28:20 "...teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

John 14:18 "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."

Heb 13:5 Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,"

We ask "WHERE IS GOD" and the Scripture resounds with the answer: HE IS WITH US!!

WHERE IS GOD?, we ask, and the Scripture tells us emphatically that HE IS AT THE PLACE OF OUR NEED! In:

Exodus 33:22 HE IS THERE TO PLACE US IN THE CLEFT OF THE ROCK!

Deut 33:27 HE IS THERE AS A DWELLING PLACE

Psa 18:2 HE IS THERE AS OUR ROCK AND FORTRESS

Psa 27:5 HE IS THERE TO CONCEAL ME IN HIS TABERNACLE

Prov 18:10 HE IS THERE AS MY STRONG TOWER

Isa 25:4 HE IS THERE TO BE A DEFENSE FOR THE NEEDY; A REFUGE FROM THE STORM; A SHADE FROM THE HEAT

Nah 1:7 HE IS THERE AS A STRONGHOLD IN THE DAY OF TROUBLE

Zech 9:12 HE IS THERE AS A STRONGHOLD FOR THE PRISONERS WHO HAVE NO HOPE.

Although Martha told him that if he had been there her brother would not have died she also said to him in John 11:22 "But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask."