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God is never late. God is never early. God is ALWAYS on time.
What strikes me about this is that God never gives us things before we are ready for them. And He also never misses the correct oppertunity for something. For me this has been something that I have found really challenging lately, especially in terms of Encounter and the worship and teaching that is going on there. There are weeks when it feels like everything is going great and people are connecting and being challenged by what they are hearing and singing. And then in other weeks God seems to be the furthest thing from some peoples minds as they step through the door, which leads to all sorts of ‘interesting behaviour’ during the talks and worship. I’m just coming to terms with the fact that God will move and challenge hearts on his time scale and not on ours, regardless of how amazing our talk or worship set preparation may be. Only God can provoke genuine, heartfelt and true responses to Himself.
We wait on you, Almighty God.
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Sometimes it seems like things don’t happen when we want them to but God knows when the best time is. I liked this chapter:
Ecclesiastes 3
1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
9 What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11 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. 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.
15 Whatever is has already been,
and what will be has been before;
and God will call the past to account. [a]
16 And I saw something else under the sun:
In the place of judgment—wickedness was there,
in the place of justice—wickedness was there.
17 I thought in my heart,
“God will bring to judgment
both the righteous and the wicked,
for there will be a time for every activity,
a time for every deed.”
18 I also thought, “As for men, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. 19 Man’s fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath [b] ; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. 20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. 21 Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal [c] goes down into the earth?”
22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?
Comment by Johnsie April 3, 2007 @ 9:59 pmNever let us forget as well that as we praise, pray, teach/listen to the Word of God we are entering into spiritual warfare. “For our struggle in not against flesh and blood, but against rulers against authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” Ephesians 6 v 12
Comment by Big Colesy April 21, 2007 @ 5:26 pmSatan is constrained by God to only go so far ( see Job 1 )but unbelievers are his and are veiled from hearing God’s word and seeing the truth that might set them free.
God’s gift of faith, which allows us to hear and respond to the faithful preaching of the gospel must be asked for in an unbelievers life.
Let our prayers therefore be twofold
That God would dress us in his spiritual armour ( every bit of it)and that we would not try to stand in our own strength ” for it is not by might nor by power but by your Spirit Lord”
and that God would lift the veil from the unbelievers heart that they might receive the gospel of grace.
Every week as we faithfully proclaim our allegiance to the King of Kings and as we steadfastly “Preach the Word” let us remember the battle and who we are up against and take heart for he is a defeated foe.
“just remember Jesus beat the Devil with a great big stick”