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8
Gospel ECHOES
Children sometimes drive their
parents crazy, asking, “When will the
meeting be over”? How much
longer?” You might still be asking
similar questions to God. It is amazing
that no matter how many times
God comes through in our lives we
are still afraid, doubtful and wavering.
We often think God is very slow
in responding to our prayers. We
think he is late in coming to our help,
which causes us to question whether
God really cares about us. The
prophet Isaiah speaks to the difference
between our perspective on
time and God’s. “For my thoughts
are not your thoughts, neither are
your ways my ways,” declares the
Lord. “As the heavens are higher
than the earth, so are my ways
higher than your ways and my
thoughts than your thoughts.”
(Isaiah. 55:8-9); God’s timing is always
better than ours because he
sees our whole lives and how they
fit into his plan for us and others.
But we cannot understand his plan
when we want something today or
even yesterday. He would say to us,
“If answer now, it won’t be the best.
I am waiting to give you the best I
have”. That does not mean he is not
concerned about us.
Sometimes God tells us things
that are going to happen, and then
we get impatient because it’s not
happening. God says there is an
appointed time as to when it will
happen. And that time is not yet. But
God says, It will happen. It will cer-
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THE APPOINTED
TIME OF THE LORD
tainly happen, but there’s an appointed
time. The plan of God, the
promises of God may seem slow to
be fulfilled. They may seem to lie.
They may seem to deceive us. It may
seem sometimes as if they are not
going to be fulfilled at all. In my
house, I have an alarm clock on my
side of the bed. I get up at 6:30 in
the morning when my alarm turns
on. My husband is still in bed. He
does not get up. And if I go to the
bathroom buzzing, it’s still buzzing
when I come back. He stays warm
in the same spot. God does not
move with your alarm. He gets up
when his alarm goes off. It can be
disappointing and frustrating. But it
doesn’t change. God has appointed
the time. He knows when that time
will happen, and it will happen in
its appointed time and not before.
That does not mean we don’t need
to pray.
For some of us, prayer is like putting
money in a Coke machine,
pushing the button, and not getting
a Coke. After you push and push the
button, and the Coke never comes
out, you get upset and walk away.
Many of us have given up because
we don’t get instant answers. Don’t
get weary. Don’t give up. Keep believing
God. Isaiah. 64:5 reads,
“For since the world began, no ear
has heard, and no eye has seen a
God like you, who works for those
who wait or him!”
Do you get overwhelmed when
you lose your job? When the
CHURCH OF GOD (INDIA) INTERNATIONAL WRITTERS FELLOWSHIP
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Dr. Jolly Joseph, Houston
Int' Joint Secretary
economy crashes, where’s your
faith? How am I going to live? Listen.
God cares about you. Jesus
says, “What is the price of two sparrows-
one copper coin? But not a
single sparrow can fall to the ground
without your Father knowing it. And
the very hairs on your head are all
numbered. So don’t be afraid you
are more valuable to God than a
whole lock of sparrows” (Mathew:
10:29-31). The question is whether
God really care. What good is it if
God cannot be there when you need
Him. Non Christians run to other
means to escape from difficulties and
your mind will do the same if you
yield to the present pressure. Trust
in the Lord and wait patiently in him.
Your wisest choice is to do what
Mosses did at the Red sea, “Stand
still and see the salvation of God”.
There is a right time for every purpose
of God and a right timing for it
to be released in its fullness. When
he does, it will surprise many. In the
meantime, be careful not to take
matters into your own hands and try
to fix it yourself, to fix your circumstances.
When we do, we miss out
God’s best. I hear so many stories
from people who regret having taken
matters into their own hands rather
than waiting for God to fulfill His
purpose in their lives. Don’t settle for
anything less than the best. God
doesn’t measure time the way you
do. Look at Habakkuk 2:3 – “This
vision is for a future time ….. it will
be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait for
it; it will surely come; it will not be
delayed”. What is God saying? It’s
God’s appointed time – His time
and not ours.