So, at the proper time, God our Savior gave this message and told me to announce what he had said. - Titus 1:3 (CEV)Someone once told me that true maturity is doing the right thing at the right time for the right reason. The right action at the wrong time or with the wrong motive is disasterous. Paul appreciates the precision of God's timing, even in his own life. While the other apostles were spending time with Jesus, watching his life and death, Paul was still "advancing in Judaism". But God's plan was not thwarted or diminished: "and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born...and his grace to me was not without effect" (1 Cor. 15:8, 10b).
Waiting for God's timing, and discerning God's timing are among the most difficult jobs in the Christian life. Many times as I have tried to push God's timetable along. Other times I have sat idly by while the amazing movement of God has swept through unnoticed. Jesus' prophecy to his own people chills me: "They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you" (Luke 19:44)
- Is my schedule too busy to be interrupted by God's moving? Do the great things of God get drowned out by the day-to-day? (Luke 14:18-19) When the Spirit moves, be ready to move!
- Are my ears sensitive to the what God is doing? Jesus told his audiences over and over again: "He who has ears, let him hear." (Matt. 11:15) Lord, grant me hearing ears.
- Do frustration and boredom suck away all of my patience? The author of Psalms writes: "do not fret, it leads only to evil." (Psa. 37:8b) Instead, he recommends: "Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;" Patience is a form of practiced contentedness. Lord, grant me calm.
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