God must have a different way of expressing love than we do as human beings. We are told that Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. One would expect special treatment as a manifestation of love. That did not play out in this story. Again, the Bible reports that on hearing about the sickness of Lazarus, Jesus stayed two more days. In better-structured societies, the siren of an ambulance would rend the air as caregivers and first responders race through the streets. Staying two extra days suggests neither love nor any imminent danger.

The central lesson here is that there is no emergency with the Lord! An emergency is a sudden, urgent, and unexpected event pressuring you into action. No such event exists as far as God is concerned. This gives bite to the Scripture that says, “Known to God from eternity are all His works”. Acts 15:18. One of the attributes of God is omniscience, which means that He knows all things. This singular attribute makes it impossible for anything to assume the nature of an emergency. Here is the cheering news for believers: none of the things confronting us today is an emergency. In other words, God and the host of heaven are not panicky, wondering what to do in our situations. God has figured out the solution even before the problem developed.