“Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask Him!” (Matthew 6:8 NLT)
Time is a tricky thing, isn’t it? When we’re with someone we love and/or doing something we love to do, time flies, but when we’re in pain or doing something we really don’t like doing, the time drags. I was visiting a friend in another city when he began getting severe pain with which I was all too familiar – he was having his first kidney stone attack.
We got to the car as fast as we could and began our journey to the hospital. Being unfamiliar with the area and following his directions as best I could, I came to a stop at a traffic light. I had every intention of going through it once I determined there was no traffic, but before I could complete my scan of traffic, my friend reached over with his leg and pushed the accelerator to the floor. Every second counted to him in his unbearable pain.
We’re like that with God sometimes. We’re in “pain” and we want answers, but it seems God is being too slow, and we’re determined to “help” Him in any way we can. The frustration that builds and the mental and emotional anguish it creates in us often blocks our mind and misleads our heart in believing God has forgotten the prayer we prayed.
It may have only been 3 days, but it seems like 3 years. Why is God so slow in answering our prayers? Beth Moore wrote: “Give it time. God is at work underground. Quit trying to force fruit that’s not yet due.”
The Lord has taught me over the years that His clock keeps perfect time. In my haste to hurry God along, I’ve often made mistakes I’ve lived to regret for a long time. When I was selling cars, I was introduced to Saabs. They don’t make them anymore, but Saab first made airplanes, so they were originally designed to be functional and practical, not necessarily attractive. But they’d been around several years when I came along, so I thought they were not only practical and functional, but very nice looking.
Long story short, I leased one. It was all I’d ever hoped it would be and more – until the payments started coming in. Almost from the first payment I regretted leasing it, but the terms of the lease required me to make 12 payments before they would let someone else take over the payments. Even though I loved the car, I hated that I’d jumped ahead of the Lord to get something I didn’t need and shouldn’t have gotten. It was a glorious day when the new “lessee” drove it away.
What have you “leased” or maybe “purchased” that you knew almost from the moment you signed on the dotted line: “This is a mistake!” Maybe it wasn’t something you bought, but a person you met. Nearly from the moment you said “yes” to beginning the relationship or to getting engaged or to getting married. Or maybe it was a job or some other kind of commitment that you so wish you hadn’t made.
All you can think or pray for is deliverance. But the plot thickens because you know better than anyone that no one made that commitment but YOU, now you’re begging God to get you out of it. Did the Lord know about this? Of course. Did He caution you not to make the commitment? A million times, but you didn’t listen. Has He written you off and left you to your own devices? No, of course not.
So, what should you do? Do the only thing you can do – WAIT for the Lord! Let the Lord work it out in His time. What should you do in the meantime? Learn what caused you to make that dumb move in the first place; otherwise, as soon as the Lord delivers you, you’ll do it again. It can be a slow, agonizing process, but please, wait until you’ve learned what you need to learn before you blame the Lord.
Make sure it’s the right time for deliverance, then thank the Lord when the time is right!
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 