God’s Timing

God’s Timing

David has an opportunity to kill his relentless pursuer; Saul. Egged on by his own troops, David creeps toward Saul with his sword drawn, but at the last moment, rethinks it. And after rethinking it, David decides the life — or the throne — of what he terms “God’s anointed one”. Saul is an objectively terrible leader. He leave Israel vulnerable to attack in his unwavering Ahab-like goal of killing David — his white whale. But the fact remains that God put him in place and as David so aptly puts it: ‘Perhaps the LORD will punish you, but I never will.’ David knows he was anointed to be king by Samuel. David knows Saul is not serving the Lord. David knows the power is in his hands to end this tyrannical reign and yet he chooses to defer to God.

Do we do this? Are we willing to wait for what God has for us? Are we willing to be patient? Are we willing to trust God’s plan? And are we willing to trust God’s timing? If you weren’t sure about these answers, then here is an opportunity for growth. Pray that God would give you these gifts, and that you would be able to see things as He does. This is something God showed me through 4 long, tough years. But once I finally learned to really trust his plan and timing… it was amazing! So freeing. So relaxing. So worth it.

1 Samuel 23:13-25:44; Psalm 54 | 107/365

The Lord Your God

Moses and Aaron have been commissioned by God to advocate before Pharaoh for the release of the Israelites. God warns them that Pharaoh’s heart will be hard, but that in time he will not only let the Israelites go, he will force them to leave Egypt.

What will cause this turn of events? The magnanimity of Pharaoh? LOL! The eloquence of Aaron? Not likely. The miraculous signs performed by Moses? Not likely (again). The grassroots groundswell of support by the Israelites against their Egyptian oppressors!? LOL (again)!

The Lord says this as recorded in Exodus 6:6-7 (NLT):

Therefore, say to the people of Israel: ‘I am the Lord. I will free you from your oppression and will rescue you from your slavery in Egypt. I will redeem you with a powerful arm and great acts of judgement. I will claim you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God who has freed you from your oppression in Egypt.

Remember the fullness of time from yesterday? Moses was God’s chosen leader because he cared for the people and he was humble, even doubtful he could possibly be a leader. The perfect vessel for God’s glory. And we had to wait for the previous Pharoah to die off so that Moses could return without being executed. Which leads us to this situation where God will free the Israelites in spectacular fashion, in a way that only the Lord can. In this way there can be no doubt who did it.

This is the God we serve. He is powerful over all things and Will only act in the fullness of time. If you feel like you can’t do it, that you are not up to the task… you are in good company. Remember that we can do (that is: persevere, press-on, or endure) all things through Christ who strengthens us. (Phil 4:13, Conrad’s Amplified Version)

Exodus 4:18-7:13 | 033/365

What Was God Waiting For?

Exodus opens with the Israelites growing into a mighty sub-nation within Egypt. And so the Egyptians seek to subjugate them with slavery. They do so successfully. But God does nothing. Pharaoh orders all the newborn male children drown, and God does nothing.

Eventually one little boy is hidden in the reeds down the river by his mother. Her hopes and motivations are not stated in the text, but by having her daughter — Miriam — keep watch, it’s clear that she hopes someone will come rescue the child and his sister can report back what has happened.

Moses is taken in by the daughter of Pharaoh. He is raised by Egyptian royalty in the lap of luxury while his people are beaten and enslaved. One day Moses sees an Egyptian beating a Hebrew man and killed him. The next day Moses saw two Hebrews fighting each other and asked why they would be attacking their friend!

Shortly after this, Moses fled for his life after Pharaoh put out a decree to have him killed for the murder of the Egyptian man. While in Exile Moses got married and had a son. All the while the Israelites are still enslaved and God still hasn’t done anything. But now, now God begins to move.

What took God so long? Why didn’t he step in right away? Because He was waiting for Moses. Moses demonstrated a zealous (maybe a little OVERzealous) love for his fellow Israelites. And this was the man God wanted to task with bringing the law to His people. This man would be the one who would FIRST write down the words and instructions and history of God and His people.

We need to remember when things are going sideways that God has a plan, a purpose, and a person in mind to do address what’s happened. We have a hard time seeing beyond where we are at in any particular moment, but while we only see what’s on the road in front of us, God can see every road. And he knows when our course will change even if we can’t see it yet.

We need to trust enough to wait on God. He is coming. When the time is right.

Exodus 1:1-4:17, 1 Chronicles 6:1-3a | 032/365