He has made everything beautiful in its time…—Ecclesiastes 3:11 ESV
God promised Abraham that he would have a son with Sarah. As they advanced in age and there was no sign of the promised son. To attempt to have a child in the family, Sarah convinced Abraham to sleep with their slave, Haggai. Their impatience reflects some of the problems the world faces today.
Saul, who later became the Apostle Paul, thought ignorantly that he could do God’s work for Him. He really thought he was serving God’s purpose by persecuting the believers. This is how he described himself: “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up here in Jerusalem as a student of Gamaliel. I received strict instruction in the Law of our ancestors and was just as dedicated to God as are all of you who are here today. I persecuted to the death the people who followed this Way. I arrested men and women and threw them into prison. The High Priest and the whole Council can prove that I am telling the truth. I received from them letters written to fellow Jews in Damascus, so I went there to arrest these people and bring them back in chains to Jerusalem to be punished.” Acts 22:3-5 (GNT)
Sometimes we, as Christians, try to tell younger believers where they are meant to be in their faith. And we say things like: by now you should have been baptised. Or you should have stopped that behaviour. Or you should be speaking in tongues by now. Only God knows each of us and our struggles, and He is patient with us. So, who are we to dictate where others are meant to be in their faith journey? “Why, then, do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the log in your own eye?” Matthew 7:3 (ESV)
As humans, we try to do things only God is meant to do because we are impatient or we lack faith in God’s timing. These days we live a life of “instant”, and it’s one of the reasons many are in all sorts of trouble, and sadly we take that impatience into our dealings with God.
Just like the Israelites in the wilderness couldn’t wait for Moses’ return from Mount Sinai, so they created an idol to worship instead of trusting the God that delivered them from slavery in Egypt. On one occasion, King Saul was so impatient that he performed a sacrifice Samuel was meant to perform. It was one of the reasons the kingdom was taken from him.
Lack of faith and impatience just makes us run ahead of God and therefore we miss out on God’s full intention for our lives.
“Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way…” Psalm 37:7 (NKJV)
Stay blessed,
LaraLex
