Skip to main content

In Due Time


         Like most people, I do not like to wait for things.  I like being able to go to the ATM and get money even if the bank is not open.  I like being able to throw leftovers in the microwave and eat five minutes later.  A stoplight (or a train) that lasts longer than a minute or two seems too long.  I do not think that I am a “Type A crazy person”, but I certainly like things to be quick and convenient.
  
          Maybe that is why the following passages are a little disconcerting.  “The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot their God… so he sold them into the hands of [their enemies] to whom they were subject for eight years” (Judges 3:7-8).  Now, if that were the only time the Bible said something like that, then maybe I could just skip over it.  However, four verses later we read, “Once again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and… the Israelites were subject to [their enemies] for eighteen years” (verses 12-14).  Verses like this keep showing up in the book of Judges and the Israelites find themselves waiting for a saviour  for anywhere from seven to forty years.
  
          Now, I am not saying that is how God works with us today (all you have to do is read the book of Job to find out that the idea that “You are in trouble because God is punishing you” is sometimes completely wrong).  What does get my attention in these passages is the length of time involved.  God’s people waited years and years for an answer to their problems.  The simple lesson:  “God works on his time frame, not mine”. 
    
         Unfortunately, I am often, like a little kid on a long car ride asking, “How much longer?”  However, God, like the parent in the car, is not so concerned about the time.  He knows that the road is long.  He knows that the destination is worth the effort and so we wait.  I may want to pray and receive an immediate response, but God’s answers come in God’s time. 
    
        Therefore, if you have been struggling with some situation or some sin for a while, please do not give up!  Do not let the delay convince you that God is not watching or hearing your prayers.  Just because you have not received a “quick answer” does not mean that the answer is not coming.
  
          In the end, God is more concerned about “long term health” than your “short term happiness”. 
    
        The final blessings are worth the wait.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Consider This: Who Needs Worship?

  Why does God need our worship? The events of Matthew 14 provide at least one answer.   This chapter starts with the beheading of John the Baptist (verses 1-12). This is the first in a series of events that indicate things are about to become much more difficult for the believers. Next, the scene shifts to a crowd gathered on a hillside in Galilee. After listening to Jesus teach all day, the apostles realized that these people had nothing to eat. They brought the problem to Jesus. He took a child’s lunch and fed the entire group of five thousand men plus women and children. Afterwards, they picked up twelve baskets of leftovers (verses 13-21).   Then Jesus told them to get in a boat and cross the Sea of Galilee. As they went, a storm arose, and the apostles were scared. They struggled along until Jesus came to them walking on the water. Peter tried walking on the water too and sank. After Jesus rescued Peter, they got into the boat, and the storm immediately s...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Spiritual Makeover (1 Peter 1:13-16)

 Three responses to the new life God has given us.  https://youtu.be/FmqX5-3jOKc  
Post a Comment
Read more

Consider This: The Danger of Drifting

   Consider This: The Danger of Drifting Most people will not blow up their life in one big, messy moment. It can happen, and when it does, the damage is obvious and instantaneous. Like a car wreck at an intersection, people make a bad decision, and chaos ensues. Parts and pieces scatter all over. People get hurt. Situations like this are unexpected, loud, shocking and scary. Most of us will not wreck our lives in one big, terrible moment. The real danger is that we will lose what is valuable in small, almost imperceptible steps. It happens all the time. You can leave your marriage without ever leaving your house. You can leave your faith while still attending church. You can leave your life while you are still living it. Many people lose what they love, not by making one big, out-of-character decision, but by coasting, disengaging, neglecting and missing what matters. Almost every Biblical list of Christian characteristics mentions “Self-control”, yet I have not g...
Post a Comment
Read more