Time to wait.

The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.

Exodus 12:40-41

If Israel waited four centuries and another third for God to work, what does it mean for me to rest in God’s plan for a while? It will be worth it. And a season of waiting is what God has for me. I am not disappointed.

I had hoped that ministry timing would have had me launching out a larger counseling ministry at the beginning of 2009. It did not happen because funds were not available. I do want to wonder. Lay-counselors are trained and serving. There are weeks where those who serve as volunteers are counseling and helping more people than I am. So I was told to wait until the new fiscal year, which started this week. But again, the recession has hit the church, and all new spending, as well as much “normal” spending has been frozen.

It was no fun to have to tell people who were looking forward to serving on a counseling staff (at least part-time) that we could not go yet. God wants us in Egypt, I suppose, for just a little bit longer. And I have learned enough to patiently trust that God will do a bigger work, a better work, a more magnificent work in us and through us at just the right time.

An old praise chorus resounds in my ears:

Wait on the Lord

Listen to His voice

They that wait upon the Lord

Shall renew their strength

Wait on the Lord

let His Spirit lead

where the Spirit of the Lord is

there is peace, sweet peace.

Technorati Tags: Exodus,Providence,Time

God’s Schedule.

2    So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him.
3    Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.
4    Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.
5    Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

Genesis 21:2-5

God’s time is not measured in human expectation. Abraham had faithfully trusted that God would provide a son for him and by the time that son is born, Isaac is clearly a son of God’s provision. He is 100 years old when Isaac brings laughter to the tents of Abraham and Sarah. It is clearly a work of God.

One of the reasons that God’s time is not measured well on a human scale is that God brings glory to Himself in all that He does, including the timing of everything. And when we want things to occur at our most convenient time, it is often to make ourselves feel good, or look good, or be what we want. But God’s schedule is the way in which He makes Himself known as powerful and in control.

What I observe then is that I need to back out of my calendar and agenda from time to time and make sure I am not getting in the way of God’s overall timing. Abraham tried to move the schedule along with Hagar as his concubine. And God told him that was not the right plan. Abraham struggled to trust God when confronted with political powers like Pharaoh and Abimelech, and God let him know that He would not allow Abraham’s impatient lies to stand in the way of God’s faithful promises.

So even today I will be working on the administrivia of ministry: something I personally see as a necessary evil. But I would fail miserably if I thought that simply having a procedure, a plan, or a calendar date would ensure God’s blessing. I need to be sure to see where God is promising to work in my heart, in my home, and in my church. And then I need to faithfully look for His timing and schedule. God may use my planning for His glory, but only when my planning is clearly under His schedule and direction. So I will trust.