Finding Hope When It Feels Like the Story Is Over
When God Seems Late
If we’re honest, there are moments when it feels like God has missed the moment. We pray, we wait, and nothing changes. The miracle we were believing for hasn’t come, and all we can do is whisper like Mary did at Lazarus’s tomb: “Lord, if You had been here…”
But what if broken isn’t the end of the story? What if God’s timing—even when it hurts—is still perfect?
In The Other Side of Broken, Michael Brian reminds us that God never fumbles a promise, never misses a moment, and never arrives too late. Even when we can’t see it, His timing is divine, and His plan is unfolding beyond what our hearts can comprehend.
The House at Bethany: When Hope Is Buried
Mary, Martha, and Lazarus had done everything right. They prayed. They believed. They waited. But by the time Jesus showed up, Lazarus had been dead for four days.
Grief filled the house in Bethany, and disappointment filled their hearts. They buried not only their brother, but their faith in God’s timing. Yet Jesus wasn’t late—He was waiting for the moment when resurrection would be the only explanation.
Sometimes God delays the miracle so no one but Him can get the glory when it happens.
Jesus didn’t just show up to comfort them—He came to call something dead back to life. And when He shouted, “Lazarus, come forth,” life came rushing back into what they had already buried.
Brokenness Before the King
From Lazarus’s tomb, Scripture takes us to Solomon’s throne room—two mothers standing before the king, each pleading for the life of a child (1 Kings 3:16–28).
In their heartbreak, one woman was willing to give up her child rather than see it destroyed. That’s not weakness; that’s love on the other side of broken.
Sometimes, faith doesn’t sound like shouting or dancing—it sounds like surrender. It sounds like saying, “Lord, I’d rather You hold it than I lose it trying to control it.”
Even when life has fallen apart, God can still bring restoration through surrender.
Mary at the Cross: When the Promise Looks Dead
On a hill called Golgotha, another Mary stood before another broken promise. The angel had told her, “You are highly favored,” but as she watched her Son nailed to a cross, it didn’t feel like favor—it felt like failure.
Yet what looked like the end was actually the beginning of redemption. The cross wasn’t a sign that God had forgotten His promise; it was proof that He was fulfilling it.
The favor of God sometimes looks like a cross before it looks like a crown.
The Resurrection and the Call
When Jesus stood outside Lazarus’s tomb and cried, “Lazarus, come forth,” He wasn’t just speaking to a man—He was speaking to all of us.
Because He doesn’t just raise the dead—He restores them.
He doesn’t just roll the stone away—He calls us into new life.
No matter what’s been buried—faith, joy, peace, or purpose—His voice still calls: “Come forth.”
Come forth from disappointment.
Come forth from shame.
Come forth from the grave of what used to be.
There’s still life on the other side of broken.
When Hope Feels Lost
Life has a way of breaking us—through loss, unanswered prayers, or seasons that make no sense.
But the story of Lazarus teaches us this truth: what looks dead to us is never dead to God.
The same voice that raised Lazarus is still speaking to you.
The same power that rolled away the stone is still moving stones today.
His mercy doesn’t run out when your strength does.
His calling doesn’t expire when your world falls apart.
His timing is still perfect—even when it hurts.
The Faith That Says “It Is Well”
Like the Shunammite woman in 2 Kings 4, sometimes faith looks like saying “It is well” while standing in front of what looks dead.
Faith doesn’t deny the grave—it believes in resurrection.
When you can’t see how the pieces fit, trust the One who holds them all together.
Because there’s still hope, still purpose, still life—on the other side of broken.
