God's Timing

Get Ready! We’re Leaving in Three Days!

Get Ready! We’re Leaving in Three Days!

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The Israelites had been camped on the plains of Moab on the east side of the Jordan River for many months. During that time Moses had written the book of Deuteronomy. God had taken him up onto Mt. Nebo to see the land that the Israelites would inhabit. Moses had died, and God had made Joshua their new leader.

The Israelites had planted crops and were augmenting their meals of manna with fresh produce from the land. They had begun to put down modest roots. As a matter of fact, the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh had petitioned Moses to make their permanent dwelling place on this side of the Jordan, and God had permitted them to do so.

So, when Joshua sent out word that they were leaving in three days, it was very short notice for a move of that magnitude….

The Hour Will Come

The Hour Will Come

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God’s timing is perfect. It always has been and it always will be. He is eternal. He’s not constrained by such things as time or space. He created it all. Time is as much His creation as we are. He can turn it backward, as we see recorded in the days of the prophet Isaiah and King Hezekiah. And just as easily as He could have turned time forward, He can make it stand still, like He did on the day He gave the Israelites victory over the Amorites.

 

He does everything according to His own perfect timing. He chose to create heaven and earth, and all of its inhabitants within six days. He put the rotation of the earth, the sun and the moon in motion to create a day in time through each rotation. He determined that each orbit of the earth around the sun would equate to one year with four seasons. He created time, as He did all of His creation, for His purpose and to bring Him glory. And nothing and no one can frustrate His plan, His purpose, or His timing.

What Is God Waiting For?

What Is God Waiting For?

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Frequently in response to my weekly posts, i receive comments or questions about why God didn’t intervene in a specific tragedy. If He is sovereign, why didn’t He keep that tragedy from occurring? The comments, in most instances, are from people crying out for an answer with a sincere and broken heart. On occasion, it is pouring out from a heart that has become bitter and hardened by the tragedy. Some have even gone so far as to conclude that since God didn’t act in the way we think He should have that He must not exist.

i will confess that i too struggle with some of those very same “why” questions. Why does God permit pain and suffering to continue? Why hasn’t He returned to earth and ended the disastrous consequences of our sin? To quote Tevye from “Fiddler on the Roof”: “Wouldn’t now be a good time for the Messiah to come?” (And i would hasten to add the word “again” to the end of that question.)

Why Now and Not Then?

Why Now and Not Then?

i am currently writing the final book in the series Lessons Learned in the Wilderness. The book, entitled Until He Returns, focuses on the truths that God teaches us through the early church as recorded in the Book of Acts. In the third chapter of Acts we come across the man who was born lame. Each day his friends or family brought him to the Beautiful gate so he could beg from those who were entering the Temple. That had been taking place for a long time – so it got me to thinking…

Two months earlier, Jesus arrived in Jerusalem and was greeted by the multitude who was praising Him with shouts of “Hosanna!” Jesus’ journey ended at the Temple where He dismounted. He then entered the Outer Court and quietly walked around, looking, but not saying anything. He then made His way through the Beautiful Gate into the hall of prayer. There were a number of people begging at the gate. Some were lame. Some were blind. The lame man was more than likely one of them. Each had been brought by family members or friends in the hopes that their friend or loved one would receive charity – or possibly a miracle of healing. Jesus looked on the people with compassion. He didn’t ignore them, but on that day He didn’t stop to heal them. He continued on into the Temple and spent time in prayer. He and His disciples then quietly left.

Jesus returned the next day which was Monday….