In 2 Peter 3:8-9, Peter tells us, “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” God’s timing is just not like ours, because he owns time – He created it, and He can move it and change it whenever He wants to. I’ve had experiences in the past when He has literally stopped time just to let me know that He is really the one who is in control. In Joshua chapter 10, when the children of Israel are in battle with the Amorites, we read in verses 12-14, “Then spoke Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, ‘Sun stand you still on Gibeon; and you, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves on their enemies. Is this not written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the middle of heaven, and hurried not to go down about a whole day. And there was no day like it before or after it, that the Lord listened to the voice of a man: for the Lord fought for Israel.”
My experiences have not been as dramatic, but I have had times when I got on the subway for a trip and I thought I would be late getting to where I was going, and when I got there and looked at the clock it had taken me half the time I knew that it should and I was on time. I’ve also had times when I thought I’d be late and when I got to where I was going something had happened on the other end that made everyone else behind schedule so I was right on time. I’ve had other times when I was feeling like He was taking way too long to fulfill a promise, to do something that He said He was going to do, when I was feeling like I was stuck in a situation that was getting unbearable and I wanted Him to act and act now, but He kept saying to wait and be still and trust Him, and then when He did act I understood why He had taken the time that He did.
God is always working on so many levels, because He sees the whole picture when we only see a part of it. He sees everything and everyone, and when He sends us out into the world to do His work, He is often sending us with only the information we need to go from one step to the next, from day to day and from moment to moment. It used to really bother me because I like to feel like I have more control and I like to have all the information I feel I need to go from one step to the next, but He’s shown me over time that even though it’s difficult at times to take steps of blind faith, I can rely on Him to get me from where I am to where I need to go and that He’ll do it in the best way possible. I’ve also gotten to know that if I know too much, I might not take the steps that need to be taken to get from here to there – if I knew for example that I’d have a challenge with someone, I might not get involved with them in business or a friendship and that business or friendship could be a crucial step in the path that the Lord is taking me on.
When Jesus sends out His disciples to begin to share the message
of His good news of salvation, He gives them some interesting advice. In
Matthew chapter 10: 7-10, He says, “As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The
Kingdom of Heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those
who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Do
not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts – no bag
for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth
his keep.” He continues on in verse 14, “If anyone will not welcome you or
listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.”
And in verses 16-20, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore
be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard; you will be
handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On my account
you will be brought before governors and kings as witness to them and to the
Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to
say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you
speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” And then in
verse 22, “You will be hated by everyone because of me.” And in verse 25-26, “If
the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of
His household! So do not be afraid of them for there is nothing concealed that
will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.” In verse 29, “Are
not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one will fall to the ground outside
your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head area all numbered. So
don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” And in verses 40-42, “Anyone
who welcomes you, welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who
sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s
reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will
receive a righteous person’s reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold
water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that
person will certainly not lose their reward.”
It’s a message that is comforting even though we know that
there will be times of discomfort. If we know who God is, and we know that we
can trust Him at His word, we know that though troubles will come and
challenges and discomfort are going to be a part of our daily walk, we also
know that He will take care of us through it all and that we have nothing to
worry about or to fear. And we can also know with each step of the way that
whenever troubles come, as long as we are truly walking with God, that means
that we are walking on the right path. The enemy is the ruler of this world
(John 12:31), and he has no reason to bother us if we’re not doing anything to
threaten his power and control over the world and over other people. We can go
to church every day and say Praise the Lord and talk about Jesus and how much
He’s blessed us and have a nice life and be at peace all the time if we’re not
doing God’s work. But once we’re going out in the world with the true message
of God’s love and peace and justice and mercy, when we are doing those things
that help others and that confront the power of darkness in people’s lives,
then we can know for sure that we’ll have trouble. But we can still have peace,
even in the midst of the storms, if we also know that He who is in us is
greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4). We can continue on with trust
and faith that God will triumph over any adversity we face, because in John’s
words, “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love,
whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made
complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: in
this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives
out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made
perfect in love.”(1 John 4:16-18) Notice that he doesn't say that we won't have trouble, but he is telling us that we don't have to be afraid of anything that comes against us if we can only know the perfect love of God is ours no matter who we are or what we have done or not done in our lives. God's love for us is a gift that we simply need to receive in order to live in peace without fear.
Yesterday when I walked by an empty lot in my neighborhood,
it was filled with purple clover flowers blooming with not a care in the world.
The temperatures have been in the 90’s and only going down to the 70’s at
night. Life can be difficult even when the temperatures are normal, and when it
gets hot like this, people start to feel the stress and strain of trying to go
about their already challenging lives in the heat. When temperatures rise,
tempers can rise, and when there are long periods of hot weather like this
people can become weary and not want to go on. But there in that empty lot, in
the blazing hot sunshine and in earth that is probably not fertile ground, the clover was blooming in a way
that made me smile because I thought of the sweetness of clover coming out of
that bitter parched ground, overcoming the adversity of its surroundings to
bring beauty, joy and life. Clover has a sweet scent, and when I was younger I
used to pick a flower and take the small pistils out of the larger blooms and
chew on them for the sweet honey flavor in them. They provide a place for bees
and other pollinating insects to gather and share pollen, and their flavor is
integral to many kinds of the best honey. They provide food for cattle and
other grazing animals, and because of their sweet goodness, the meat and milk
of those animals tastes fresher and more deeply flavorful when they have an
open field of clover to graze in.
When we know who our God is, and we know that
we can trust in Him no matter what the climate around us looks and feels like,
we can be like that clover, and bloom without a care in the world, and bring
freshness and sweetness and goodness even out of the most bitter and
unnourishing ground. And that sweet goodness will be nourishing for others, and will help them to grow healthy and strong, and to walk in the love that God has for all of us.
Blessings,
Jannie Susan
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