Realigning Our Desires With Our Needs - Are We There Yet Dad?

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him! - Isaiah 30:18

I don't think it dawned on me until I had read the same stories like 10 times. It might have even been more than that. All I do know was that I didn't remember the preacher's in my life pointing it out and it had not dawned on me.

Have you ever noticed that God is not in a hurry?

It took 40 years for Moses to receive his specific orders from God the Father to lead the people out of Egypt. Again, in the Old Testament, it took 17 years of preparation before Joseph was delivered from slavery and imprisonment. I still think that it's funny that we call that preparation; as if it is some requirement that we go through some hideous experience and it was the same as Spring Training is for the Cubs! Praise His name that God is more effective in His choice of preparation for us than the Cubs are for their Spring Training! (Sorry, I needed that rant) It took 20 years before the Old Testament patriarch Jacob was released from his father-in-law Laban's control. And, Abraham and Sarah were in their old age when they finally received the son of promise, Isaac.

So why isn't God in a hurry?

God called each of these servants to accomplish a certain task in as that person or persons particular calling. The work of it was, in God's thinking, Kingdom of God activity. You would think if anything demanded urgency it would be something that God is requiring you to do. I mean, in each of these cases, the stories I mention above, each one affected the outcomes of the history of the entire world! Yet our Heavenly Father was in no hurry to bring their mission into fulfillment. At least as we count time, it didn't seem to be hurried.

Well let me point out some things that have struck me about each of these stories and perhaps your story as well.

First, our God accomplished what He wanted in each of them and not just because of them. And, actually, I think this is really the only point I want to make here. We are often more focused on "the goal" or the end result than we are in understanding the process that He is accomplishing in our lives each day. What God does on the road of life you and I travel is often the real story. When we experience our God's presence daily, one day we wake up and realize that God has done something special in and through our lives. It is very much like my realizing that repetitive reading has put God's word in me to recognize truths that were never evident when I had only read them once, twice or more. In this case we get to a point where the accomplishment of the task is no longer what excites us. Instead, what excites us is knowing Him. As we travel the road that is our journey in our faith, we become more acquainted with our God's love, grace, mercy, methods of guidance, His glory, what gives Him satisfaction and His power in our lives. When this happens, we are no longer focused on the outcome because the outcome is a result of our walk with Him. Our life becomes a play for our Lord's very creative mind. It's more like, "Okay Father, what will you do next?" God's great accomplishment is not the goal of our life journey, but the by-product. Hence, when Joseph came to power in Egypt, he probably couldn't have cared less. He had come to a place of complete surrender so that he was not anxious about tomorrow or his circumstances.

This is a massive lesson for you and I. What is that lesson? We must wait for God's timing and embrace wherever we are in the process. If you do not have an insight into what you are doing in your life, ask your Father. He wants you to know! Just realize that if you are feeling anxious it might not be the tugging of the Holy Spirit on you to hurry up; rather, it might just be the enemy trying to get you to ignore the real lessons that cause God to transfer His character into you! When we find contentment in our life, where we are at, the now and now place, we begin to experience God in ways we never thought possible.

For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel,"In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength." - Isaiah 30:15 The rest of this verse said, "you were not willing..." We need to willingly understand where God is in our life today. We need to "get" that our God can move us from where we are now to where He wants to take us if we will but look up, worship and adore and realize who He is right now. May we but learn to wait, gain insight into our today and expect His personal leadership in our lives.

I remain...

InHISgrip,
~J~