Truly, I could have titled this devotional, The Lord Does Not Stop Most Suffering, because we all eventually die! When Jesus heard that His friend Lazarus was fatally ill, Jesus intentionally did not go to see His friend, but waited. After the friend died, then Jesus went.

When He reached the town, one sister of the friend ran to Jesus, and afterward she went back to her sister, who also wanted to see Jesus,

Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him. Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.” Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:30–32).

She spoke the truth. He could have prevented the death of Lazarus, but Jesus chose not to do so. In this case, He knew that He would raise Lazarus from the dead.

However, Jesus does let everyone die, but this enables His disciples to join Him, and by cutting off the wicked, the Lord prevents the wicked from making the Earth worse than what it already is.