In HIS Time...

In HIS Time...
 

We humans have our own way of thinking, ya know? Old fashioned people had more patience than the younger people nowadays, they want everything NOW! We expect everything to fall into some parameter of time within the concept of our human minds, but we often fail to recognize that the godly concept of time and our concept of time are not the same. As always, let me use the bible to illustrate what I mean...

Human Reproduction - We tend to think on averages, but the Lord can go beyond the curve of human comprehension concerning averages, concerning such things as the human biology. How old is too old to have a child, really? God doesn't have an age limit to child birth. Look at this example: "And the LORD said unto Abraham, 'Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, "Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?" Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.'" (Gen. 18:13 - 14) Old enough to be a great grandmother, Sarah indeed bore Isaac, but in His time, not the time expected of mankind!

Disaster (Plague) - In God's time does He allow disaster to fall on a given population, whether they be wicked or not, "That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." (Matt. 5:45) "Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain. And the LORD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children's of Israel. And the LORD appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land." (Exod. 9:3 - 5) God's reason for the murrain to fall specifically on the Egyptians' property and not the Israelite property was to make it clear to the Pharaoh that His hand was in it, but it is not always for reason of correction that God does these things, as in the case of Job, for example. The beginning of the cited example took 400 years before God moved to put fruition to the prophecy given to Abraham, and this was only one plague of the 10 needed to make the Pharaoh cry "Uncle!"

Consequence For Disobedience In Appointed Times - In the Old Testament there were consequences for disobedience concerning appointed times; consider Israel's first king's disobedience. "And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. And Saul said, 'Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings.' And he offered the burnt offering. And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him. And Samuel said, 'What hast thou done?' And Saul said, 'Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash; Therefore said I, "The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the LORD": I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering.' And Samuel said to Saul, 'Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which He commanded thee: for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought Him a man after His own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee." (1 Sam. 13:8 - 14) If one does not accept Christ their whole lifetime, when they threafter are in front of Him, their appointed time for acceptance is past, and then they will face the ultimate consequence!

His Perfect Design - Does anyone reading this know the answer to why Jesus waited four days to see Lazarus? He could have immediately gone there and healed him, but He waited until He received word that Lazarus was dead. "Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. When He had heard therefore that he was sick, He abode two days still in the same place where He was. Then after that saith He to His disciples, 'Let us go into Judaea again.' His disciples say unto Him, 'Master, the Jews of late sought to stone Thee; and goest Thou thither again?' Jesus answered, 'Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.' These things said He: and after that He saith unto them, 'Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.' Then said His disciples, 'Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.' Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, 'Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.'" (John 11:5 - 15) Jesus is sying plainly to His disciples here that He waited for Lazarus to be dead so He could make an example of Lazarus' resurrection nobody could contest. If Jesus only healed him by being there before Lazarus' death, the people could say, "Oh, that was no miracle, Lazarus got well on his own." People don't return to life on their own; it takes a miracle! And so, in His perfect plan and by Godly design concerning timing, Jesus gave evidence for the people present to believe He was indeed the holy Son of God!"

Human Lifespan - "Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? Are not his days also like the days of an hireling?" (Job 7:1) "And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died." (Gen. 5:27) "And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal. But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons which were slain; and they hid him, even him and his nurse, in the bedchamber from Athaliah, so that he was not slain." (2 Kings 11:1 - 2) "And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him." (Gen. 5:23 - 24) Here I have given 3 examples of different ways of leaving this life and different lengths of lifespans for the people involved. Killed as children; An extremely long life with a natural death; and one who was so very blessed, he saw not death at all! Even so, I would be flabbergasted that the Lord would give me a 365 year lifespan! Nonetheless, we live and die by His appointed time, and how we die, even that is appointed by Him!

Length Of Seasons - "Let the children of Israel also keep the passover at His appointed season." (Num. 9:2) "That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil." (Deut. 11:14) "And when they cried unto the LORD, He put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season." (Josh. 24:7) (That was 40 years!) "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace." (Eccl. 3:1 - 8) When God appoints a season, it is often a nebulous amount of time. It can be long or short, but it's in HIS time! The Egyptians held God's people 400 years, that was a long season; the Israelites were in the desert 40 years, that was not quite as long. He gave the children of Israel rain in His appointed seasons within each year. See how according to Ecclesiastes everything has a season of length that He determines for every event in the fabric of time? And yet, there is one thing that is beyond the concept of a season. Your eternal resting place. Will you go to new Jerusalem or the lake of fire? The saved know where they're going, and the condemned have a place they will go, but it is uneffected by the concept of a season, because both eternal places of disposition are timeless!