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THE MYSTERY OF DIVINE INTERVENTION-Conversation IX: When GOD arrives at the Last Moment · PAMOJA PODCAST | PAMOJA MINISTRY, A LIFE OF CHRIST INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES

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Welcome to Pomoja Ministry. There is a question
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that becomes difficult to ask when you know God
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can intervene. If God can open the sea, why wait
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until Pharaoh is almost upon Israel? If God can
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calm the storm, why allow the boat to begin filling
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with water? If God can heal Lazarus, why remain
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where he is for two more days? If God knows what
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we need before we ask, Why are there seasons
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when the answer seems to come only after we have
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reached the end of ourselves? We believe God
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is able. That is exactly what makes waiting difficult.
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Because when you believe someone cannot help
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you, you eventually stop expecting help. But
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when you know he can, every passing day raises
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another question. God, when? I prayed, when?
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I cried. When? I kept worshipping. When? And
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perhaps somewhere along the journey, the question
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becomes even more painful. God, are you going
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to come at all? This is where the mystery of
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divine intervention meets the mystery of divine
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timing. Because sometimes God moves immediately
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and sometimes he waits. Not because he has ceased
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being God. not necessarily because we have done
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something wrong, not necessarily because our
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faith is insufficient, and certainly not because
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our pain is insignificant. Sometimes scripture
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simply places us before a God whose timing we
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do not yet understand. And perhaps one of the
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deepest forms of faith is learning to trust God,
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when we know he can move, but he hasn't moved
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yet. There may be no better place to begin than
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Bethany. Lazarus is sick. His sisters, Mary and
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Martha, send word to Jesus and listen carefully
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to their message. Lord, the one you love is sick.
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They don't even need to explain the relationship.
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The one you love. Surely Jesus will come. Surely
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love will move him immediately. Surely this qualifies
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for intervention. But John tells us something
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difficult. Jesus loved Martha. Jesus loved her
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sister, Jesus loved Lazarus, so he stayed where
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he was two more days. That almost sounds contradictory.
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He loved them, so he waited. We would expect
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scripture to say, he loved them, therefore he
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rushed to Bethany, but he doesn't. And by the
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time Jesus arrives, Lazarus has been in the tomb
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four days. Martha meets Jesus and says something
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that perhaps many believers have whispered in
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different words. Lord, if you had been here,
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my brother would not have died. In other words,
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you could have stopped this. I know your power.
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I know what you have done for others. I know
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what you are capable of. So where were you? And
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later Mary comes. She falls at his feet, and
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she says essentially the same thing. Lord. If
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you had been here, two sisters, same wound, same
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question. And Jesus does something extraordinary.
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He does not rebuke their grief. He does not give
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them a lecture about having more faith. He sees
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Mary crying. He sees the people crying. And scripture
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gives us two words. Jesus wept. Never confuse
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God's timing with God's indifference. Jesus knew
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resurrection was minutes away and still entered
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their grief. That means knowing the ending does
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not make God insensitive to the pain of the middle.
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Sometimes people will tell someone suffering,
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just trust God. And yes, trust him. But biblical
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faith does not require pretending something doesn't
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hurt. Jesus knew exactly what he was about to
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do and Jesus still wept. Then Jesus approaches
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the tomb and says, take away the stone. Martha
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immediately objects. Lazarus has been dead four
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days. There will be an odor. Human possibility
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is not merely weak now. Human possibility is
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finished. This is important. If Jesus had healed
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Lazarus while he was sick, they would have celebrated
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healing. But now, Jesus is standing before a
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tomb. The category has changed. They were asking
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for healing. Now they need resurrection. And
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perhaps sometimes we become afraid because the
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situation has moved beyond the answer we originally
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expected. You prayed while there was still time.
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Then the deadline passed. You prayed while the
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door was still open. Then the door closed. You
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prayed while there were still options. Then the
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options disappeared. And you begin thinking,
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now it is too late. But too late is a human measurement.
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We measure possibility according to what remains
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available to us. God is not confined to our remaining
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options. Jesus stands before what everyone else
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calls final and says, Lazarus, come out, and
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the dead man walks out. Now understand this carefully.
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This story does not mean every situation we lose
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will be restored exactly as Lazarus was. Jesus'
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miracle at Bethany is a particular revelation
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of his glory and authority over death. We should
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never use someone else's miracle to condemn a
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grieving person for not receiving the same outcome.
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But the revelation remains. Human finality does
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not limit divine authority. When we reach the
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end of what we can do, God has not reached the
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end of who he is. Now return to Israel. God could
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have stopped Pharaoh in Egypt. He could have
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prevented Pharaoh from pursuing. He could have
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taken Israel another route. Instead, Israel reaches
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the Red Sea. Water ahead. Egypt behind. Mountains
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and wilderness around them. No visible escape.
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And Israel panics. They ask Moses, was it because
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there were no graves in Egypt that you brought
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us to the desert to die? fear begins rewriting
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their interpretation of deliverance. Think about
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that. God has already delivered them from Egypt,
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but because they cannot understand the present
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moment, they begin questioning the deliverance
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itself that happens to us. A difficult chapter
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can make us reinterpret everything God has already
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done. Maybe I misunderstood God. Maybe he abandoned
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me. Maybe the promise wasn't real. Maybe I should
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have stayed where I was. But Moses tells them,
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Stand firm, and you will see the deliverance
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the Lord will bring you today. Then God opens
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the sea. Why there? Why not ten miles earlier?
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Why allow Israel to reach the place where there
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is no visible road? Perhaps because there are
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revelations of God that only become visible when
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human alternatives disappear. If Israel had escaped
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through ordinary geography, they could have explained
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the escape by geography. But when the road goes
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directly through water, nobody can confuse the
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source. There are moments when God permits us
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to reach the end of our own map, and then reveals
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he was never limited to our map. Then there are
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the disciples. Jesus tells them, let us go over
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to the other side. They enter the boat. A furious
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storm develops. Waves break over the boat. The
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boat begins filling with water. And Jesus is
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sleeping. Think about the emotional contradiction.
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The storm is awake. Jesus appears asleep. The
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water is entering. Jesus is silent. Experienced
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fishermen are panicking. Jesus seems unbothered.
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Finally they wake him and say, Teacher, Don't
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you care if we drown? Notice the question. Not,
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can you stop the storm? But, don't you care?
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Because prolonged difficulty can eventually make
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us question not God's ability, but God's heart.
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You prayed, nothing changed. You waited, nothing
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changed. The water kept entering, and eventually
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the heart whispers, does God care? Jesus rises,
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rebukes the wind, speaks to the waves, and suddenly
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there is calm. The storm that terrified the disciples
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responds immediately to the voice of the one
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who appeared to be sleeping through it. His silence
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was not powerlessness. His apparent inactivity
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was not lack of authority. And perhaps this is
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something we need to carry with us. God does
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not have to look anxious for God to be in control.
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We interpret urgency through panic. God doesn't.
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This may be one of the hardest things about divine
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timing. Our emergency does not always produce
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visible urgency in God. And that can be deeply
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uncomfortable. We have deadlines. God has eternity.
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We see today. God sees what today is connected
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to. We see the immediate consequence. God sees
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the entire road. That does not mean deadlines
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are irrelevant. It does not mean we become irresponsible
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and say, God will handle everything. Faith still
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acts wisely. Faith still prepares. Faith still
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works. Faith still seeks counsel. Faith still
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knocks on doors. But after we have done what
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we can faithfully, there are moments when the
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remaining battle is simply Can I trust God without
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controlling the clock? Because sometimes we don't
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merely want God's answer. We want God's answer
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by Thursday. We want God to move before the meeting,
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before the deadline, before the money runs out,
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before the person leaves, before the opportunity
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closes, before everyone sees what happened. And
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sometimes he does. but sometimes Thursday comes
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and nothing happens, then Friday, then Saturday,
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and suddenly our theology is being tested not
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by whether we believe God exists, but whether
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we believe God remains faithful after our preferred
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deadline has passed. We often say delay is not
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denial, and there is truth in that statement.
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But we need to handle it carefully, because sometimes
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the answer actually is no. Sometimes the door
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stays closed. Sometimes what we wanted never
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happens. Sometimes God's will takes us somewhere
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different from our request. So faith cannot simply
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mean, if I wait long enough, eventually God must
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give me exactly what I asked for. That is not
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surrender. Faith says something deeper. Until
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God makes his will clear, I will not interpret
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waiting as abandonment. Maybe the answer will
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be yes. Maybe the answer will be no. Maybe the
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answer will look completely different from what
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I imagined. But while I wait, God remains God.
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That is the anchor, not the outcome. God. We
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call something late when it passes the time we
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expected it, but Scripture repeatedly shows God
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working beyond human deadlines. Abraham and Sarah
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reach an age where the promise appears biologically
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impossible. Israel reaches a sea. Lazarus reaches
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a tomb. The disciples' boat begins filling. Jesus
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reaches Calvary, and in each case human possibility
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becomes smaller. while dependence upon God becomes
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greater. Again, this does not mean God deliberately
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creates every crisis in our lives, nor should
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we romanticize suffering, but it does mean our
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inability to see another option is not proof
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that God has no options. Maybe that is the difference.
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Late means it did not happen according to my
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clock. Too late means nothing can be done anymore.
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And perhaps we should be very careful about telling
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Almighty God when nothing more can be done, because
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we know the limits of our ability. We do not
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know the limits of His. So what do you do between
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the prayer and the intervention? This may be
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the real question, because most of life is not
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lived at the moment the sea opens. Most of life
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is lived before it, before the answer, before
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the door, before the explanation, before the
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reversal, before you understand. And this is
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where faith becomes practical. You keep praying.
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You keep obeying. You keep doing what is right.
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You keep working where God has given you responsibility.
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You keep guarding your heart. You refuse bitterness.
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You refuse to manufacture an outcome. You refuse
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to call God unfaithful because he did not follow
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your schedule. And sometimes, you become quiet.
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Not because you have stopped believing. Not because
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you have surrendered to defeat. But because you
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have reached the place where you no longer have
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another argument to make. You have prayed. You
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have cried. You have asked. You have knocked.
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And eventually faith whispers, God, I trust you.
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There is a quietness that is not resignation.
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It is surrender. There is a silence that is not
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emptiness. It is confidence. There is a stillness
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that says, I cannot move this, but God can. And
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perhaps now we can begin seeing why the season
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waiting after this one matters so much, because
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sometimes divine intervention happens. after
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quietness has taught us how to wait. One of the
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greatest mistakes we make is assuming, I don't
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see movement, therefore nothing is moving. But
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throughout scripture, God's activity frequently
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begins outside human awareness. Before Joseph
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reaches Pharaoh, Pharaoh has a dream. Before
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Esther enters the decisive moment, a king cannot
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sleep. Before Peter leaves prison, believers
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are praying in a house. Before the stone is rolled
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away, resurrection power has already done what
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no human being could do. What if some of the
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waiting seasons we call empty are not empty at
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all? What if pieces are moving that we cannot
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see? What if God is working in another person's
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heart? What if something is being prepared? What
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if something is being prevented? What if God
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is changing us before he changes the environment?
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We do not know and we should not invent. The
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invisible does not mean inactive. Silent does
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not mean absent. Waiting does not mean forgotten.
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And perhaps this is one of the hardest lessons
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of divine intervention. We often want evidence
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that God is moving. Something we can see, something
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we can hear, something we can point toward and
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say, there, God is doing something. But faith
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does not always receive evidence before it receives
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an invitation to trust. Sometimes nothing around
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you appears different. The phone has not rung.
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The door has not opened. The answer has not arrived.
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The situation has not changed. And yet, somewhere
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beyond what you can see, something may already
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be moving. Think again about Joseph. Joseph is
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in prison, and from Joseph's perspective, nothing
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has changed. Same walls, same confinement, same
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unanswered questions. But somewhere outside that
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prison, Pharaoh is sleeping, and Pharaoh has
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a dream. Joseph does not know it yet. The prison
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still looks exactly the same, but the event that
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will eventually bring him out of that prison
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has already begun. That is extraordinary. Joseph
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wakes up as a prisoner without knowing that somewhere
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in the palace, God has already allowed a question
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to arise for which Joseph carries the answer.
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The prison hasn't opened yet, but something has
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shifted. And maybe somebody needs to hear this.
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You do not have to see the movement for movement
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to exist. Again, I am not promising that every
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waiting season contains a hidden promotion or
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that every closed door will suddenly open. We
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cannot manufacture promises God has not made,
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but scripture gives us permission to reject one
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dangerous conclusion. Because I cannot see God
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working, God must not be working. You simply
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do not know that. There may be conversations
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you have not heard. There may be hearts being
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changed that you cannot see. There may be doors
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being prepared that you do not yet know exist.
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There may be dangers from which God is protecting
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you without ever showing you what he prevented.
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There may be something developing in you that
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will only become visible later. Or perhaps the
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work of God in this season is not primarily changing
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the environment. Perhaps He is changing you.
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And that too is divine intervention. We have
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spent much of this season talking about what
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God does around us. God moves them. God carries
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us. God stops what is coming. God reverses the
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battle. God opens doors. God makes a way, but
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there is another form of intervention that can
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be much quieter. Sometimes God intervenes inside
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you. The situation hasn't changed, but somehow
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you have. The thing that once terrified you no
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longer controls you. The uncertainty that once
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kept you awake no longer owns your peace. The
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person whose approval you once desperately needed
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no longer determines your worth. The door you
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once begged God to open no longer controls your
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happiness. The outcome you once believed you
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could not live without, you have finally placed
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into God's hands. Nothing outside changed, but
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something inside did. And maybe we underestimate
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how miraculous that is. because sometimes we
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ask God, change the situation. And God begins
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by changing the person standing inside the situation.
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We pray, God, remove the storm. And sometimes
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God says, I am going to teach you that you can
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sleep in the boat. We pray, remove the pressure.
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And sometimes God strengthens something inside
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us that pressure can no longer crush. We pray,
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Give me the answer. And sometimes God gives us
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peace before he gives us explanation. That is
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intervention too. Paul understood something about
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this. He prayed repeatedly about what he called
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a thorn in his flesh. He wanted it removed, but
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the answer he received was, my grace is sufficient
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for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.
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God did not answer Paul in the way Paul initially
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requested, but God did answer. Grace entered
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the place where removal had been requested, and
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sometimes divine intervention does not look like
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extraction. Sometimes it looks like sustaining
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grace. You thought the miracle would be getting
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out, but the miracle became discovering. This
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did not destroy me. I am still here. I still
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believe. I still worship. I still love God. I
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still have hope. I still have compassion. My
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heart did not become bitter. My faith survived
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what I thought would destroy it. And suddenly
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you realize God has been intervening all along.
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Now we can return to the title of this conversation.
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when God arrives at the last moment. But perhaps
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we need to correct something. Does God really
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arrive at the last moment? Or does he arrive
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at the moment that only looks late to us? Because
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God was already at Bethany before Jesus physically
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walked toward the tomb. God was already at the
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Red Sea before Moses stretched out his staff.
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God was already in Joseph's story before Pharaoh
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dreamed. God was already in the boat before the
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disciples woke Jesus. The intervention became
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visible at a particular moment, but God's presence
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did not begin at that moment. That's different.
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Maybe what we call, God finally showed up is
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sometimes simply, I finally saw what God was
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doing. And that changes how we understand waiting.
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Because now I am not waiting for an absent God
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to arrive. I am walking with a present God whose
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timing I do not yet understand. That is a very
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different kind of waiting. I am not abandoned
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in the hallway waiting for God to find me. He
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is in the hallway. I am not alone outside the
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closed door waiting for God to come open it.
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He is beside me at the closed door. I am not
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walking through the valley hoping God eventually
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catches up. Remember what we discovered earlier
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in this season when I thought the footprints
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beside mine had disappeared. Those were the moments
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he was carrying me. So perhaps the greatest revelation
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of divine timing is not. God will eventually
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come. Perhaps it is. God is already here. And
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because he is here, I can wait. There is something
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else we must confront. Sometimes our greatest
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source of anxiety is not the situation, it is
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the clock. How long? When? By what date? At what
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age? Before what deadline? We begin measuring
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God's faithfulness against calendars we created.
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By now, I should have... By this age, I thought
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I would, after this many years, surely. I prayed
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for this long. I have waited this long. And slowly,
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without realizing it, the clock begins judging
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God. But scripture says, my times are in your
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hands. Not. My times are in my anxiety. Not.
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My times are in other people's expectations.
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Not. My times are in the timeline I created when
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I was 20 years old. Not. My times are in comparison
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with somebody else's testimony. My times are
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in your hands. That does not mean we become passive.
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It means we stop allowing time to become evidence
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against God's character. Somebody else's breakthrough
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at 30 does not mean God forgot you at 40. Somebody
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else's door opening quickly does not mean your
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waiting has no purpose. Somebody else's testimony
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is not your calendar. And comparison is dangerous
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during waiting because it makes us ask, God,
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why are you doing it for them and not for me?
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But you do not know their entire story, and they
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do not know yours. Faith does not require God
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to duplicate somebody else's journey. Faith says,
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my times are in your hands. Now let us go into
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the place where faith becomes difficult. What
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happens when the deadline passes? You prayed
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for the relationship and it still ended. You
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prayed for the opportunity and someone else received
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it. You prayed for the door. and it closed. You
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prayed for the answer before a certain date,
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and the date came and went. What then? Is God
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still faithful? This is where faith must become
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deeper than outcome, because if our faith only
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survives when God gives us the answer we expected,
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then our faith was ultimately anchored in the
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answer, not God. The three Hebrew men standing
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before the furnace understood this. They said,
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our God is able to deliver us. That is faith.
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But then they said something greater. But even
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if he does not, that is surrender. God can. We
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believe he can. We ask him to. We trust his power.
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But our worship is not held hostage by the outcome.
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That is mature faith. And perhaps this is where
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divine intervention becomes mysterious. Sometimes
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God intervenes by changing the circumstance.
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Sometimes God intervenes by changing the direction.
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Sometimes God intervenes by carrying us through
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what did not change. And sometimes we will not
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fully understand what He was doing in this lifetime.
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Faith leaves room for mystery. Not because faith
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has no answers. but because faith knows God is
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greater than our answers. Jesus once told a parable
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about workers hired at different hours of the
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day, some early, some later, and some at what
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scripture describes as the eleventh hour, almost
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the end of the working day. There is something
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about the eleventh hour that speaks to human
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hopelessness. Because by the eleventh hour, you
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have probably stopped expecting anyone to come
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looking for you. The day is nearly finished.
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Other people have already been chosen. Other
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people have already been working. Other people
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seem ahead. And then, someone comes looking.
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Perhaps that is why scripture contains so many
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stories where intervention appears near the edge.
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Not because God enjoys terrifying his children.
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Not because every believer must be pushed to
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breaking point. But because scripture repeatedly
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reveals something about God's sovereignty. The
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clock does not intimidate him. The sea does not
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intimidate him. The tomb does not intimidate
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him. The furnace does not intimidate him. The
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prison does not intimidate him. Human impossibility
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does not. intimidate him. And therefore, when
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you reach a place where you genuinely do not
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know what happens next, you do not have to pretend
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that you do. You can simply say, God, my times
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are in your hands. There is a dangerous thing
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about reading Bible stories after we already
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know the ending. We know the sea opens. Israel
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didn't. We know Lazarus walks out. Mary didn't.
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We know Joseph reaches the palace. Joseph didn't.
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We know the storm becomes calm. The disciples
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didn't. We know Sunday comes. The disciples standing
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near Calvary didn't. We read their Friday knowing
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Sunday. They lived Friday without seeing Sunday.
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And perhaps that is where somebody is today.
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You are living a chapter whose next page you
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have not read. And because you cannot see what
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happens next, fear is trying to write the ending
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for you. Don't let fear become the author. Maybe
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the answer comes tomorrow. Maybe it takes longer.
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Maybe God answers differently than you expected.
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I cannot promise you which, but I can tell you
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what scripture allows us to know. The chapter
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you can see is not the entire book. And therefore,
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Do not let one unfinished chapter convince you
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that God has abandoned the story. So perhaps
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tonight, or this morning, or wherever this conversation
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finds you, you do not need another explanation.
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Maybe you have already asked every question.
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Maybe you have replayed every possibility. Maybe
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you have calculated every outcome. Maybe you
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have tried every door, and perhaps the invitation
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now is much simpler. Open your hands and say,
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God, I have carried this long enough. I have
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tried to understand it. I have tried to predict
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it. I have tried to control the timing. But today,
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I place the clock back into your hands. My times
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are in your hands. If you move today, I will
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worship you. If I must wait tomorrow, I will
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worship you. If you open the door, I will follow
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you. If you close the door, help me trust you.
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If you answer the way I prayed, I will thank
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you. And if your answer takes me somewhere I
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did not expect, give me enough faith to follow,
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because I am beginning to understand something.
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You do not have to arrive. You are already here.
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You were there when I prayed. You were there
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when I cried. You were there when the deadline
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passed. You were there when the door closed.
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You were there when I could not understand. You
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were there when I thought I was walking alone,
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and when I could no longer see your footprints
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beside mine. You were carrying me. So I will
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wait. Not because waiting is easy. Not because
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I understand. not because I know what tomorrow
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holds. I will wait because I know who holds tomorrow.
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My times are in your hands. My unanswered questions
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are in your hands. My future is in your hands.
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My family is in your hands. My purpose is in
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your hands. My life is in your hands. And perhaps
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divine intervention has never simply been about
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God arriving at the last moment. Perhaps the
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mystery is discovering. He was there the entire
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time. And that brings us somewhere extraordinary.
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Because we began this season asking, what happens
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when God intervenes? We saw him move what we
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could not move. We saw him help. We saw him carry.
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We saw him sustain. We saw him establish boundaries.
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We saw him reverse battles. And now we have discovered
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that even during the waiting, he was already
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there. But there is one final perspective we
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have not explored. Sometimes you cannot recognize
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divine intervention while you are living through
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it. Sometimes you only recognize it when you
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look back. You look at what should have destroyed
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you, what almost happened, what didn't happen.
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the door that mysteriously closed, the danger
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you escaped, the strength you somehow found,
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the season you thought would bury you, and suddenly
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the words of David become personal, if the Lord
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had not been on our side. Maybe that is the final
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mystery, not simply asking, God, where are you?
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But one day looking backward and realizing if
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God had not been there, Where would I be? That
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is where we are going in our final conversation.
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Conversation 10. If the Lord had not been on
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my side. Recognizing divine intervention. When
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you look back. Until next time. Stay prayerful.
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Stay faithful. Keep trusting God even when you
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cannot understand His timing. And as we prepare
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to close the mystery of divine intervention.
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Always remember, you are not alone.