Tuesday, October 6, 2015

There Is Never Enough Time

     Have you ever noticed how time just keeps slipping away?  It seems like only yesterday when I was changing diapers, teaching our children at home and spending time at soccer games.  Now they are all grown, and we have been blessed with grandchildren.  Trust me, the years have gone far more quickly than I care to admit.  However, we often find ourselves complaining that we never have enough time or that things are not happening fast enough.  This is when we need to stop and take stock of God's timing in all matters.
     In a couple of Paul's letters, he alludes to the fact that Jesus Christ came into this world at the precise moment the Father had ordained for Him to come, and died for us.  Romans 5:6 tells us:  "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly."  We know that our Savior had an active ministry for a period of three years.  Why only so little time?  God's timetable is not ours; yet we know it is perfect even as He is perfect.
Big Ben in London reminding us of the time.
     Then, in Galatians 4:4-5, we read:  "4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons."  God determined the right moment in history to send His Son.  It was not due to man's will but according to the Lord's purpose.  Since His first advent, it has been 2,000 years that we have waited for His return, and many scoff saying He will not come again.  Yet Scripture is clear that He will come to rule and reign at the end of days.  When will that be?  We do not know, but we are certain for God keeps His Word which will never pass away.
     One of the problems we all seem to have is that of perspective.  We do not see things as God does for we are finite while he is infinite.  He is not bound by time as we are.  According to Peter we read in 2 Peter 3:8-9:  " 8But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance."  Because our Lord is merciful, He is patient.  He desires for those He has called to come to Him.  We serve a sovereign God who works all things together for good (Romans 8:28).  However, we have to remember that He does it in HIS time.  Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us:  "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end."
     For those of us here on earth, we often cannot understand why certain things do not happen according to our expectations.  Why does God delay in healing a person?  Why does He not hurry and answer my prayer?  Doesn't He care that certain things are not getting done?  That is "Martha" thinking when we tend to stew over everything being done on time.  Isaiah 55:9 states:  "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."  God's purposes will never be thwarted nor will His Word return void.  He will accomplish all He has said He will do, but we might never understand the delays.  How can mortal man whose days are like the dust of the earth (here today and gone tomorrow) tell His Creator how to do things and when to do them?
     Therefore, we must trust in God's plan for our life, our family, our church fellowship as well as our nation.  He is the God who is Sovereign over all His creation.  We need to quit worrying and stressing over time.  The key thing to remember is as Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 3:1:  "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven..."  We have only to wait upon the Lord.  Nothing else matters.  Selah!
     

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