Proverbs 4:25 Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you.
I was laughing inwardly, as someone was complaining that God was not moving fast enough on their prayer request. This person was wondering why God did not notice they were in a hurry to get this thing done and completed – like, right now! I can just see Jesus pushing his way through the crowds saying, “Hey, get out of the way! I’m in a hurry here. I’ve got miracles to perform and corpses to raise. Oh yeah, and there is that big bunch of people I’ve got to feed out in the field.” Yeah, right. Jesus in the fast lane. This vision of Jesus doesn’t quite make it into my heart. Matt. 11:29 Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
We may be all travelling at the speed of light in this world, but God has His timing on everything. Eccl. 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. Waiting for God to do His work in our hearts can be a long wait if we are fighting Him along the way. Believing God for a miracle takes faith and patience on our part. We do not snap our fingers and God jumps to our instructions.
We who are in Christ must come to God by faith, and not demanding our list of stuff that must be done. We must first believe that God is God and He is sovereign over all of life. Heb. 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
Indeed, it sometimes feels like God is not moving fast enough on our behalf. Especially when it was God in the first place who put the actual vision we are believing for in our hearts. Sarai could no longer wait for God’s timing to have the child that the Lord had promised her. Saria instructed Abram to sleep with her bondservant so that Sarai could have a surrogate child. Gen. 16:2 Sarai said to Abram, “Since the LORD has prevented me from bearing children, go to my slave; perhaps through her I can build a family.” And Abram agreed to what Sarai said. Sarai’s fast lane idea didn’t work out well at all. God did not go along with Saria’s plan but stuck to His own eternal one.
King Saul could not wait for Samuel to show up and minister the sacrifice to God. Saul’s troops were starting to desert him, so Saul decided to minister the sacrificial ceremony himself to hurry things along. 1 Sam. 13:8 He waited seven days for the appointed time that Samuel had set, but Samuel didn’t come to Gilgal, and the troops were deserting him. 9 So Saul said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” Then he offered the burnt offering. Because of this impatient fast lane decision, Saul lost his kingdom, and the events in his life went downhill from this point on.
We are never going to force Jesus into the fast lane of our time table. We have to line our lives up with His plan and timeline. Our focus must be on what the Lord has sown in our hearts and we are to keep our way straight by His grace. Prov. 4:25 Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you.
So many people want everything by yesterday’s date. However, the Kingdom of God works line upon line, and precept upon precept, so that the Lord’s plans come to pass in the fullness of God’s time. Isa. 28:10 For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.
Trusting in God takes faith and patience. There have been times in my life when I simply thought of a prayer that I would pray, and the answer to that prayer manifested within the hour. There have been times when the answer to my prayers took months, and other times, many years. What I have come to understand is that when I pray by faith, I also have to trust that God’s timing will make all things work for the good of my life and those of whom I am connected with. Rom. 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.
The keywords in the above verse are, “According to His purpose.” We can get caught up in the fast lanes of life trying to make God fulfill our purpose. The Lord is the creator, and we are the created. We have to keep that perspective in our life while living out our relationship with God.
Jesus is Lord, master, saviour and friend. He knows when and what we need. We just have to trust His love, grace, and timing. Prov. 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Blessings to us all.
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What I am hearing is it is the time of building relationship with the Lord God and through that relationship prayers will be answered. He spoke to me this morning about how He gathered the Israelite into the desert to build a relationship with them
and through that relationship it would extend to the whole world … for we were created to commune with our God and bring glory to His name.
Thank you Norm well written.
God Bless you abundantly.
Blessings
Kathleen
Great word Sir Norm!
A great reminder for me
Bless you