...and God knew
"During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew." Exodus 2:23-25 (ESV)
He knew the time had come, He knew their affliction and suffering and said no more.
Another familiar verse that pulled my heart string. Perhaps it's because there are times I struggle to walk in His fullness, in His assurance because I can make life about me and what I long for, what I hope to see come to be. I cry to the Lord and wonder if it comes up to Him, to His ear. Does He hear and know? The timing of His word is always perfect to meet the times of weakness.
"Even youths shall faint and be weary and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:30-31
Feel like God doesn't "know" your longings, sufferings, hurts, needs, questions, doubts, your waiting...He does
Just as Israel's "cry came up to God" so does yours...
As God's chosen people had to wait for Moses to raise up and deliver them from Pharaoh, so we too are in that waiting time. You may be waiting to be delivered from some hurt, circumstances, a standstill and we are all in the waiting room of being brought to glory for eternity. But what about the time in between while we wait...how are we to live?
Today makes me reflect on that 'in between' as Jesus was crucified and buried and those who followed Him had hoped for deliverance from earthly power, and now what...He was buried. What disappointments, confusion, frustration, despair and lost of hope. Until His glorious appearing and hope of glory! Today represents in a day what we do with our time on earth. The waiting and in between until glory. How to live...
Psalm 126 comes from a people who are living between the times, between a good time remembered and another good time hoped for. Psalm 126:1-3 gives a past remembered when the Israelites were delivered from Babylon; what He's done in the past. Brought them such joy. Then v.4-6 is looking forward to, hoping for a harvest in the future. The seed sown to reap a harvest. What is the seed? The Word of God.
Luke 8:11-15 is the parable of the sower and what prevents the seed from reaping a harvest. On the path, the enemy snatches the seed away. On the rock, trials and testing cause the seed to fall away where it had no root. In the thorns, the seed is choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures. Then on the good soil, a noble, good and sincere heart, hears the Word, retains it, and produces it.
Do you find that you hear hundreds of messages, memorize scripture, read many books, mark up our Bibles yet remain unchanged or still struggling with the same issues? "The seed of God's word can fill our stomachs and give us immediate satisfaction and still not produce a harvest - that's when we eat it but don't sow it. Many times we apply biblical truth to our theologies without applying it to the actual practicalities of life."
We weren't meant to just eat the seed (The Word) but to sow it, apply it to practical living, not just digest it in our stomach, ears, and memories but allow the Spirit's work to produce the change in us. When a seed is sown it produces a harvest of sheaves, that's what we are meant to eat from; the sheaves, not the seed. The harvest of the waiting. He who promised is faithful.
Psalm 126:6 promises reaping songs of joy carrying sheaves with them as a result of those carrying the bag of seed to be sown.
What part does faith and patience play in our wait as we obey God and look for the first sprout of harvest? Faith, believe, and trust that He will faithfully bring a harvest when we are obedient in love by His doing and empowering, not ours. Patience to endure and not give up because the harvest will come.
"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" Galatians 6:9
A past remembered, a time to come hoped for, and living in the in between. Patiently reap a harvest.
The fruit and reward of obedience may not be in this life. Just as God dealt with that stone and rolled it away that morning Christ conquered death, He too can deal with the stones that need to be rolled away in your life. Christ is the hope of glory in you!
...and God knew
"when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons." Galatians 4:4-5
"We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God." 2 Corinthians 5:20
Oh Glorious Day - "Living He loved me, dying He saved me, buried He carried my sins far away, rising He justified, freely forever, one day He's coming oh glorious day"
"The Lord is my strength and my song, He has become my victory." Psalm 118:14
Posted in: on Saturday, April 23, 2011 at
