When Moses was grown ... he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. So he ... killed the Egyptian... When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled ... Now it happened in the process of time ... the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. (Exodus 2:11-12,15, 23 NKJV)
Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia... And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."
(Acts 16:6-7,9 NKJV)
My God, I have trusted in you...
No one who waits for you shall be shamed...
Show me your ways, LORD.
Teach me your paths.
Guide me in your truth, and teach me,
For you are the God of my salvation,
I wait for you all day long.
(Psalms 25:2-5 HNV)
Moses' desire to deliver his people was in accordance with God's will for him, but forty years needed to elapse before he and the Israelites were ready. The apostles' desire to take the Gospel to Asia was God's plan, but His timing would wait for many centuries, and the Gospel first went west to us. (How should we be so privileged?)
The desires of our heart are often the Spirit leading us in the direction we will someday travel. But until God says, "Go!" we must wait upon Him, faithfully making ready for the day He may bring to pass what we envision.
Lord, Your plans and purposes are good. You have wisdom beyond our comprehension. Your timing is always perfect. Please enable us to see our circumstances through Your eyes, and to ever say, "I wait upon You."
"For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose [desire, delight] under heaven ... He has made everything beautiful in its time." — Ecclesiastes 3:1, WEB
Copyright 2008, Anne Lang Bundy
Anne,
ReplyDeleteThank you for another Spirit-breathed message. This one again touched my heart deeply.
My daughter is quite the theologian. Yesterday we were talking about God's will. She said when God gives you a gift, like "being a mom", it comes with happy things ("a baby", she said) and hard things ("all that cleaning and cooking and stuff") in the gift-box. What a visual, right? An actual present. So I took the time to explain to her that when the gift is from God, even the hard things can bring joy.
Waiting is a hard thing that can come with a gift. Yours truly does not like to pull 'waiting' out of the box of all God has for me, but there it is...and I (hopefully) learn patience when I hold it in my hand.
Your blog is a blessing.