That plane isn't going to drop right out of the sky!

If you are anything like me, you sometimes forget that God never (and I mean never) goes back on his promises. Sometimes we get so caught up in the 'delay' between the promise and seeing it realized in our lives that we get a little wigged out with God because there is such a 'gap' between the beginning and the ending. The truth of the matter is that there is meaning in the delay - while we may not understand or fully appreciate it, God is at work. God isn't hindered in his ability to fulfill the promise - but we may be hindering him a little by our reluctance to trust!

O Lord, I will honor and praise your name, for you are my God; you do such wonderful things! You planned them long ago, and now you have accomplished them, just as you said! (Isaiah 25:1 TLB)

The other day I saw a plane at what almost appeared to be a total 'stand-still' in the sky. While I know this is impossible, the movement was ever so slight. In researching why this 'appearance' is given to those of us standing on the ground, it has to do with our point of reference. Our distance from that aircraft in the sky is still quite great and we have a decreased ability to fix our eyes on a reference point because of where the plane is in reference to our line of sight. The appearance is one of no movement, but the truth is that the plane is in a very specific movement pattern just above the 'stall' speed which will be required at the time of touchdown. 

There are times when we lose our reference when looking at what God is doing to fulfill a promise in our lives. We don't have a good fix on that reference point and therefore we believe he is not moving. We find ourselves wondering if the plane of our lives will drop right out of the sky! Will that promise stall all together and plummet headlong into oblivion, never to be seen or heard from again? Not likely, because God has the 'perfect speed' being maintained to ensure the delivery of the promise, it is more our perception of the delay that is the issue!

The approaching plane's pilot has much to do in order to deliver that plane safely to the gate. There is the whole control of speed, pitch, and descent rate. The flaps will be lowered, the gear down, and the attitude of the plane's nose will be slightly changed, but the plane is not going to stall in mid-air. Why? The pilot is in control! He knows the plane and he knows the specifics of each part of it, thereby rendering it safely into the 'landing zone' at the appropriate time and speed. Too fast and those on the plane may be injured, or the plane may break apart upon landing. Too slow and the plane will land where it is not supposed to!

There is much to be said about God's timing, but nothing remains truer than this - we lose sight of our reference point, or fail to actually have one, a great deal of the time. God isn't delaying the delivery of the promise as much as he in insuring it is delivered within the right timing, speed, and 'attitude' so as to ensure we come to enjoy it exactly as we should! We are likely going to think he has 'stalled' in the delivery, but he is just asking us to trust him a little longer. Just sayin!

Our heart's desire...

There have certainly been times when I have questioned God about why it is I don't have my "heart's desire" - how about you?  Try as we might, we just cannot figure out why there is a delay in seeing the desire of our hearts come to fulfillment.  We question the delay, doubt our faithfulness, and begin to worry they might never be fulfilled.  If we just hold onto the one passage of scripture which says all we need to do is to do what the Lord wants and he will give us the desires of our heart, then we wonder if we are doing what we are supposed to be doing.  Before long, we begin to wonder if we have some kind of "barrier" to seeing our heart's desire fulfilled - like sin hidden deep within our hearts, wrong motives, or the like.  If we really want to discover the truth about the "long wait", we have to take it to God and trust him to reveal the purpose.

Trust the Lord and live right!  The land will be yours, and you will be safe. Do what the Lord wants, and he will give you your heart’s desire.  Let the Lord lead you and trust him to help.  Then it will be as clear as the noonday sun that you were right.  (Psalm 37:3-6 CEV)

Some of us want to "cherry pick" the portions of scripture we will "hold onto" and then forget all was written in some type of "context".  Looking again at our psalm, it starts with the idea of not being annoyed with those who do wrong, but seem to prosper.  Admit it, we have all been there at one time or another, wondering why the guy or gal who seems to live so far from what is right actually is enjoying blessings beyond measure.  It is easy to drift into the dangerous ground of envy - the very thing this psalm warns against!  The rest of the psalm reminds us of the "fleeting nature" of the blessings of those who don't have their hearts and minds "fixed" on doing the things God would desire. They might have "temporary blessing" beyond our understanding, but they won't retain those blessings - nor will their hearts and spirits be as full as those who have their focus fully fixed on Jesus!

The "rest of the story" as Paul Harvey used to say becomes quite plain as we read on in our psalm.  Those who live by the sword will be destroyed by the sword.  Those who rise to power outside of the security of being part of God's family will soon lose their power - and living powerless is no living at all.  As it is aptly put, "Their time is coming..."  But...see the flip-side of the coin, my friends.  Those who put their trust in the Lord, living by the plans he ordains, shall enjoy living daily in his care.  What God gives each of us is ours forever - no one can take away grace, or his love, or even his presence!  It is ours forever.  Additionally, when the lean times come, we have "reserves" upon which we shall draw which the wicked have no access to.

The crux of the psalm is found in verses 23-24, where our psalmist outlines our assurance pretty succinctly:  "If you do what the Lord wants, he will make certain each step you take is sure.  The Lord will hold your hand, and if you stumble, you still won't fall."   Our focus is not on what we don't have, but on what we already enjoy.  The condition of our enjoyment - "doing" what the Lord wants.  In other words, set about to live obediently and let the rest fall into place in your life.  Stop worrying about what it is you "don't have" and focus instead on what you do possess.  What we are doing then is allowing God to be the center of our choices and decisions will be made in a much better manner than if we are always bemoaning what we "don't have" yet.

The Lord protects and provides for his people - this is something we can stand on when times of doubt or frustration with God's timing come into play.  We can "talk back" to our doubts and "put away" our frustrations when we remember God is there for us whenever we need him.  Those we envy because they seem to "have it all" are not so privileged, my friends.  They have no "recourse" in their time of need.  They have no protection when times are hard, or doubt is creeping in.  Our mission is to live as the Lord wants.  Our practice is to be engaged in doing what he directs us to do.  This is the crux of obedience.  Then, in the course of doing as we should, we realize the blessings God intends for our lives.  Our heart's desire may actually change in the course of time, but if not, the time it takes to see the fulfillment of that desire will be time well spent in the presence of a caring and loving God who is readying us to receive that blessing!  Just sayin!

I don't like to wait!

^5-7Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, but oddly, when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed on where he was for two more days. After the two days, he said to his disciples, "Let's go back to Judea."

(John 11:5-7)

These verses are taken from the story of the healing of Lazarus, a good friend of Jesus.  Lazarus is quite ill, near death, and his two sisters (Mary & Martha) send word to Jesus and his disciples.  Their intent would be that Jesus would come at their request and that he would intervene to heal their brother.  Their brother was not only their "kin", but in the economy of the time of this writing, he was their provider.  The single women were under the care of their male living relatives (father, brother, uncle, etc.).  If he passed away, it was a huge change in the lives of these two women.  Yet, their plea for his healing is likely motivated by their intense love for their brother.

What stands out is the delay we see in Jesus' response to their plea to come.  What the sisters did not understand was that God was using this experience to reveal his glory.  The lesson we can learn from the delay is that the period of waiting is never a sign that Jesus loves us any less.  It says in the passage that precedes these verses that Jesus loved Lazarus.  We don't see that recorded too many times, so we know that Jesus had a special fondness for this good friend.  It is hard for us to understand that if Jesus loves us that he doesn't immediately intervene in our lives at our immediate point of need.  Mary and Martha were struggling with this very same issue.

Jesus may delay in his intervention, but it never is because he fails to love us. In fact, a delayed intervention is often an opportunity for God to display his greatness and his glory on a grander scale.  He has a different plan!  There is always a "bigger picture" that we don't fully see or understand in any of God's "delays" in our lives.  There may be a specific audience he is preparing to witness the intervention.  There could be a specific lesson of faith that he wants to develop within us that will act to sustain us later in life as we face other challenges.  Regardless, it does not mean that his love for us has changed.

In the midst of the circumstance that causes us to panic, God sees a whole different dimension.  He sees the need for our faith to increase.  He knows that our hearts are in a state of anxiety and that we need to learn to trust more fully.  The lessons are innumerable - and the "wait" is invaluable!  We may see no way out, but God saw our way out long before we recognized that we even would find ourselves in that circumstance or need.  God has the plans for our "intervention" already formulated and set in motion long before we ever cry out for his help.

The delay of those two days must have been heart-wrenching for these two sisters.  Watching their brother fail before their eyes probably tore at their hearts and elicited all kinds of emotions.  Martha meets Jesus on the path to the house - Mary stays inside - weeping for the loss of their brother.  The crowds question why Jesus delayed - if he loved Lazarus as much as he claimed, then why was there not a quicker intervention?  Martha resists the opening of the tomb - Lazarus had been there several days - he would be quite "ripe" by now.  

All this goes on - Jesus patiently allowing the grief of the women to overflow, the accusations of the unknowing crowd to be expressed, and the doubts of the masses to come to the surface - then he makes his move.  We don't get it, do we?  Why the delay?  Why the seeming lack of concern for what Mary and Martha were going through?  But...it was for the glory of God.  He had bigger plans!  That very "delay" brought many to a place of making a decision about Christ that day.  It says that many "turned around" from their doubt and began to follow him.  I wonder if our sustained grief is an occasion for his excellence to shine forth even more?

Know this - God's delays NEVER lessen his love!  We may have high expectations that Jesus will be right there at the first mention of his name - his delay may cause us to wonder if he heard us, or if he cares for us.  His love NEVER fails!  His "delay" is really for our benefit (and often the benefit of those around us).  I put "delay" in quotation marks because it SEEMS like a delay to us - but in fact, it is the perfect timing of God that brings about the perfect resolution to our need and the perfect display of his glory.  We receive (in just the right timing) what he planned for us right from the beginning.  God knows the end from the beginning - we have to trust that he has a plan - even in the "delay".