GOD'S TIME…WAIT, and MEANWHILE

Reading: 2 Peter 3:8-14

TIME

Time is a strange and fascinating thing, isn’t it? It incorporates past, present, and future in a continuing progression, where, in a nano-second, this present moment becomes the past and the future is now the present. We can only speak of time in these three terms, as seen in a few quotes about time:

• ·         “Time and tide wait for no man.” (St Marher, 1225)
• ·         “Study the past of you would define the future.” (Confucius)
• ·         “Yesterday is gone, tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” (Mother Theresa)

This concept of time is all we humans have to work with – but God is not limited by earthly definitions. His day could be 1000 years, or more or less. So when Jesus promises to return some day, He is speaking in heavenly terms, while we are restricted to our human reason regarding day and time.

We believe His promise as expressed in this gospel chorus:

            Coming again, coming again,

            Maybe morning, maybe noon,

            Maybe evening, maybe soon.

            Coming again, coming again.

            Oh, what a wonderful day that will be,

            Jesus is coming again! *

WAIT

Yet we are left waiting for the Day – not knowing what hour, day, week, month, year, century it may be…and most often not very patiently! We say, “Come, Lord Jesus, deliver me from...” Or, “The world has become so evil, why don’t you come back now?” We think He is taking His good old time to keep His promise. But, the Lord is not slow – He is patient. He desires that all have opportunity to repent (vs 9). He will come at precisely the right time – just as He did the first time.

"But, when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman,

born under the Law, in order that He might redeem those who were under

the Law…" (Galatians 4:4-5)

MEANWHILE

So we continue to wait, but, in the meanwhile, how shall we wait?

• ·         Looking up into the heavens, hoping to be the first to see Him descending?
• ·         Listening to men’s predictions and gathering on a hillside awaiting His return?
• ·         Or perhaps following Peter’s advice for a more active, productive waiting strategy?

Here is what Peter has to say regarding waiting for the Day of the Lord (in vs 11-14):

• ·         Grow in the qualities of goodness and holy character
• ·         Dwell in expectant hope of His coming
• ·         Be at peace with God and others
• ·         Live in obedience

So I can be encouraged that God’s timing is perfect regarding Christ’s return, and that in the meantime, I have plenty to do to help further His kingdom during God’s “patient time.”

*by John W Peterson, 1957

Answered Prayer

Read: Luke 1:23-25

In 2008, the Lord lead me to launch Into the Field. It has taken me around the world, including ten trips to China. As I go and serve, I have a particularly soft place in my heart for kids—millions of them longing for families of their own. I would pray for them, for their future families to come, knowing that they weren’t me.

Like Elizabeth, one of the deepest prayers of my heart was to be a mom, and I questioned if it would ever be my turn. I watched those around me having kids and more kids. Unlike Elizabeth, my dream of a husband has not yet been realized, so I figured the prospects of motherhood were approaching somewhere between slim and none.

But the Lord is faithful and good. His plans are so much better than anything we can imagine. In 2012, at the age of 41, I walked into a foster home in China to lead VBS. I picked up Olivia and knew something was different. He tapped me on my shoulder and…”In these days, he has shown his favor…” and I knew that instead of praying for her family, that I was her family.

QUESTIONS:

1. Do you have any unanswered prayers that have consistently poured out of your heart for years on end? Take a moment to pray again.

2. When was the last time you stood in awe of an answered prayer? Take a moment to thank the Lord.

PRAYER:

Thank You, Lord, for the perfect timing of answered prayers. Thank You that You sometimes answer in unexpected ways. Continue to grant us Your favor.

Jennifer Cameron

At Just the Right Time

Life on Mission: Share

Romans 5:6-8

 

If you Google “at just the right time” these images, amongst others, will appear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The same Google brings up these verses:

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.”            Romans 5:6 NIV

“But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.”      Galatians 4:4-5 NIV

“For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.”      

2 Corinthians 6:2 NLT

 

You may have observed something similar in your own life; that is, sometimes things seem to happen “at just the right time”; like there is a plan. The fact is, the Bible is the story of God’s plan of Redemption where things happen “at just the right time”. The

corollary to this fact is, that YOU and I are a part of this plan.

 

God has worked in your life and in mine to bring us into faith in Christ. He brought people and experiences into our lives that changed us. In turn, He continues to work by bringing you and me into the lives of others to use us in their life.

 

It might be when you are talking around the water cooler at work, having a cookout with your neighbors, at a church dinner, sitting at a Buckeyes game or playing in a golf outing through work. We don’t live in a vacuum. God is always at work, and His work is “at just the right time”.

 

In today’s passage, Paul wrote, ^“Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

 

“While we were still sinners”… You have the best story ever to share with a dying world. It’s your story of how God has been at work in your life. He did it “at just the right time”, and now He is ready for you to be there for somebody else. How does it feel to be a part of God’s plan of redemption?

 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans%205%3A6-8&version=NIV;NLT

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/niv/Rom.5.6-Rom.5.8

 

 

 

 

Ecclesiastes 3:11 God's Timing Is Perfect

"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end."

As I get older my thinking changes. I find myself more frequently pondering my future with the Lord, and as I believe many do, questioning once again my worthiness. Have I truly done what the Lord wanted me to do with my life. Did I use my gifts appropriately? Do I truly deserve a place at his side? This world and satan play games with our minds and often cause us to question and doubt.

The truth is this: as stated is Ecclesiastes, "....they cannot fathom what God has done....." I believe this is the bottom line. It is not humanly possible for us to understand what God's promises truly entail. What our eternal world will be like is only a fantasy in our minds. Minds that are far to small and inexperienced to comprehend the depth and breath of His unfailing love for us.

These eternal plans so often spoken of in the bible, are difficult for our minds to wrap around, and virtually impossible to truly grasp. Only time will tell,..... not in our time though, in God's time. If we trust in God with our lives and hearts, his good and masterful timing will take care of the rest. As the theme of the movie "The Polar Express" clearly communicates, Believe........................