In His Time. For His Glory.

The Lord has been reminding me of the many examples in the bible of people who waited on the Lord. The children of Israel waited over 400 years for God to fulfill His promise to return them to their own land. I imagine many of them lost hope and were full of doubt and skepticism.

Then when God gave Moses instructions to get His people out of Egypt it didn't go very smooth. God warned Moses about that beforehand but still, I would imagine, it was hard for the Israelites to keep trusting God was in the middle of the situation. I so easily buy into the lie that if God is in the middle of something it will look neat and tidy. That is so far from the truth. The more impossible a situation looks the brighter God shines. Look at Lazarus. That situation looked hopeless yet God was always in control. He had not forgotten them. Everything was going exactly as God wanted it to. Lazarus was raised from the dead and God received the glory for it. Nothing is impossible for God. (Luke 1:37)

I've also thought about the time when the Israelites got out of Egypt and followed where God wanted them to go only to see Pharaoh's army chasing them with fierce determination. The Israelites had no where to run because the Red Sea was behind them. Moses told them they only needed to be still, God would fight for them. How hard that would have been standing there with your children and watching this cloud of fury coming toward you as you wonder if you need to choose between drowning or death by the sword. Yet, this also was for the glory of God. God was in complete control. The Lord quickly told Moses to stretch his staff over the sea and have the people move forward. I'm sure the sight of the parted Red Sea was unbelievable, intimidating at the least. Anyone would have to be crazy to walk through it but with their backs against a wall what other choice did they have but to take a step forward. Maybe we have situations where we need to feel our backs are against the wall in order to be crazy enough to take the next step of faith. Whatever the reason, God knows what He's doing.

As I've been waiting for the Lord I've found it very challenging to stand on the promises of God. To stand on the fact He will fulfill every word He speaks. Keeping hope has been challenging. I can understand why Sarah laughed when the visitors told Abraham God was now going to fulfill His promise to them for a son. Once again, life was breathed into a seemingly dead situation.

I also remind myself that the fulfillment of God's promises may not look the way we thought they would. The teachers of the law expected the long awaited King of the Jews to look very different then the Jesus who stood before them. God knew Jesus was exactly what the world needed and exactly how they needed it. From the immaculate conception, to Jesus growing up the despised city of Nazareth, to the fact this King did not live in a palace. Jesus may not have looked as some thought he should but this was the exact will of God.

As I thought over my life in other times where I waited for God I can see that God was always faithful to what He said He would do. My faith always grew in those situations and God's glory always shined through. It's in the waiting, refining and heat of the situation that makes the testimony. Yes, happily ever after is a great ending but it's in the struggle, the pain, the refining by fire that we grow. More important then the fulfillment is the death of my flesh that comes in times of waiting. We want to be strong in the Lord but we first have to go through the sweat and tears of training, and purifying.