Beautiful Timing

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11)

"He has made everything beautiful in its time" (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

I am so impatient. I love the Jeremiah verse, but I don't know about you, but I find myself wondering most of the time, "ok, so when are these plans gonna happen?" I wanna know the when, more than I want to take God at his word. Waiting is hard, sometimes I adopt an attitude of, "you know NOW would be a good time for you to do this." The verse in Ecclesiastes has been an encouragement to me. This verse always helps me to remember, that God's timing is so much superior to my own. In my sinful arrogance, I actually believe I know when God should deliver and do things, that God should work to my time table. But I am realizing more and more that I need to trust the he is good in his dealings with his children and he is good in the timing of everything. Waiting is hard, and it stinks but that waiting should not lead me to impatience and bitterness, but should drive me to cling to Christ even more. We are called to trust that not only will he do good, but that his timing is good as well. This verse says it's BEAUTIFUL! This is a great promise that we can trust.

Don't give into impatience or cynicism, remember God does have good plans for you, and we are to take him at his word, not question the when or how or whatever, but follow and trust the one who says so. His timing will always be better than you can dream. Rest in his word, not how you feel. He is for you and wants you to trust him.

When God Denies Us Things

I think it's safe to say many Christians have felt the sting of something being denied them. You have a legitmately good desire and it seems God has said no and shut the door on it. In those moments I tend to think something like, "This doesn't feel like good God. what the heck!?" You can be tempted to doubt God's goodness when things don't work out like you want. But, as I've had to remind myself recently, there is a vast chasm between what I think is good and what God says is good for me.

John Piper gave an illustration once about how his son, when he was younger, wanted a cracker from the cupboard. When Piper went to the cupboard he saw that the whole box had gotten moldy and needed to be thrown out and so instead he gave him something else to snack on. He recalled how in giving his son something different, he had a real hard time explaining to his child that the cracker was bad for him and the other treat was better. The child was unable to understand that the cracker wasn't good for him at all. Aren't we the same way? We see God denying certain things and we are so convinced that he is being cruel and sadistic. We think we know what the good is and if it's denied us, we pout. The truth of the matter is that God is protecting us from harm. He loves us too much to give us what we want--if it's no good.

In Matthew 7, Jesus pointed us to how God displays His goodness through His gifts: "[W]hich one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" (9-11) Applying Jesus' teaching to our situation, we should note that it is perfectly legitimate to have desires. We should make sure that they are in keeping with the Bible's teaching, but desires are natural and can even lead us to growth in Christ. But we should never assume that what we think is "good" is what God thinks is best for us. Just like Piper's child, I don't see things as I should, I am so convinced that the fuzzed, infested cracker is good, and in frustration I ask, "If my Father was so good, wouldn't He give this to me?"

Given my fallen state, I should hold every desire with the knowledge that my perception of what is good is tainted. Desiring to have what we perceive as being good is what got Adam and Eve in trouble in the first place. To avoid their mistake--empowered by the Gospel, I need to trust that God is a good father, who really does know what's best for me; and if he denies me something in the moment he's protecting me from harm.

So maybe you are struggling with being denied something--the job you wanted, the raise, the promotion, a relationship, whatever. But in your struggles, don't ignore the central truths of what we know about God. See, when it comes down to it, the struggle has less to do with the particular issue at hand and much more to do with the crucial question: Are you going to choose to believe that God is your Father and He is perfect in wisdom and wont deny you ANY good thing?

There comes a point when we need to stop gazing after the thing denied and turn our hearts toward the Father who is the very essence of goodness Himself. Look how lavishly he displays His love in the Gospel: He gave up His only perfect Son for you. Do you really think that He would hand you a stone today?

"Give to the Winds Thy Fears"

Came across this poem by a man named Paul Gerhardt about our nights turning to day

Give to the winds thy fears,

Hope and be undismayed.

God hears thy sighs and counts thy tears,

God shall lift up thy head

Through waves and clouds and storms,

He gently clears thy way;

Wait thou His time; so shall this night

Soon end in joyous day.

Far, far above thy thought,

His counsel shall appear,

when fully He the work hath wrought,

That caused thy needless fear.

Leave to His sovereign sway

To choose and to command;

So shalt thou, wondering, own that way,

How wise, how strong this hand

"give to the Winds Thy Fears" (1656) Paul Gerhardt

Small Faith?

Do you ever feel down because of the size of your faith? I can get pretty discouraged by my lack of faith, it seems like it'll never grow it's so small. This quote from Spurgeon really helped me, it is very dangerous to live by how we feel.

"I often hear this from young beginners in the divine life, "I was so happy a month ago, but I have lost that happiness now." Perhaps tomorrow, after they have been at the house of God, they will be as cheerful as possible, but the next day their joy is gone. Beware, my dear Christian friends, of living by feeling. John Bunyan puts down Mr. Live-by-feeling as one of the worst enemies of the town of Mansoul. I think he said he was hanged. I am afraid he, somehow or other, escaped from the executioner, for I very commonly meet him; and there is no villain that hates the souls of men and causes more sorrow to the people of God than this Mr. Live-by-feeling. He that lives by feeling will be happy today, and unhappy tomorrow; and if our salvation depended upon our feelings, we should be lost one day and saved another, for they are as fickle as the weather, and go up and down like a barometer. We live by faith, and if that faith be weak, bless God that weak faith is faith, and that weak faith is true faith. If thou believest in Christ Jesus, though thy faith be as a grain of mustard seed, it will save thee, and it will, by-and-bye, grow into something stronger. A diamond is a diamond, and the smallest scrap of it is of the same nature as the Koh-i-noor, and he that hath but little faith hath faith for all that; and it is not great faith that is essential to salvation, but faith that links the soul to Christ; and that soul is, therefore, saved. Instead of mourning so much that thy faith is not strong, bless God that thou hast any faith at all, for if he sees that thou despisest the faith he has given thee, it may be long before he gives thee more. Prize that little, and when he sees that thou art so glad and thankful for that little, then will he multiply it and increase it, and thy faith shall mount even to the full assurance of faith

The Better Country

"But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city" (Hebrews 11:16)

This past Sunday my pastor preached on the topic of heaven. It started me thinking about being heavenly-minded, or in my case the lack thereof. I am very much obsessed with the future of a better country, but not the one that the heros of the faith in Hebrews 11 were looking for. I find myself seeing the job I want or marriage as the the "better country." Both very good things to think about but should not be made the end or goal of my life. The constant thinking about and looking towards this reveals much idolatry in my heart. I forget that God, the one who should be sending me to hell, has promised me a better place with a much better inhabitant. Himself. If you're a christian, God is preparing a place for you personally, imperishable and everlasting. We were not created for this world or anything in it but for the one who created us. So, what is your "Better Country"? what are you looking to, where are your eyes gazing? As we spend the little time we have here, let's adopt the mindset of those in Hebrews who were looking to the one who would truly satisfy there souls.


Soon and very soon i'll be going
to the place he has prepared for me
There my sin erased
my shame forgotten
soon and very soon

I will be with the one I love
With unveiled face I'll see him
there my soul
will be satisfied
soon and very soon