”God, please give me patience… right now!”
Do you know why we call a plumber when we are ankle-deep in wastewater? Because they know what they are doing! they have the skill and the experience and the training! When things need to happen, we depend on the person who knows how to solve the problem.
We live in an “instant” generation. It sounds like a Boomer thing to say, but even Gen-X is starting to feel slow against the speed at which Gen-Alpha wants to operate at!
Which brings me to the discussion I am having with God a lot. The whole unbiblical concept of FOMO (boomers: Fear of Missing Out” 😉) and God is constantly reminding me that I am in a season for a reason. He needs me to be fluent in certain skill-sets. He wants me to be capable… not survive by learning on the fly or with a “fake it till you make it” attitude!
So God… who is beyond Faithful… sent another sermon snippet on my path. Consider Paul (which is cool, because I am in the Book of Acts for the last few weeks)
Paul was so well-trained and well-spoken that he could convince the Sanhedrin to send him out to disrupt the followers of Christ. They had full trust in him and his ability to cause mayhem.
Then, he had his Damascus Road experience, where Christ spoke to him directly, calling him into a new life and into his true purpose. Game changer! The devil didn’t see that coming!
If you read Acts and don’t pay proper attention, the events seem to flow fast. He gets his sight back, he starts preaching, he goes from town to town, he gets arrested, gets free, new town, gets stoned to death, resurrected, new town, preaches, gets arrested… Bam, Bam, Bam!! Things are just happening! No time to rest, no time to sleep!
But… if you write down the timeline, from Damascus road to the First Missionary Journey? It is a period of about 15-17 years… YEARS!!! That was the preparation time for Paul!
Joseph, David, Moses, Noah and Elijah… the Bible is full of examples of the “waiting season.” Not twiddling your fingers. Preparing…
Paul didn’t sit around reading Torah… He was active.
He could write a review manual of the region’s prisons (“How to get arrested, a guide to the prisons of the Middle East”) and rate the skill of their floggings and beatings. He was practising his skills every single day. Preaching, Praying, Healing… every day was training day!
Do you see the same pattern I am seeing? God Calls you and gives you a taste of the life He wants you to live. Then, you go into a season of preparation because you need to know what you are doing when you get to where you are supposed to be going. It seems hectic, but looking back, it is a safe space for learning, practising and developing your Faith.
Then, and only then… do you seem to truly and fully step into your ministry!
I can try and push into something myself, but it will be a futile exercise because it won’t be the right thing and it won’t be at the right time. And worse… I won’t be ready for it.
”I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it.”
(Ecclesiastes 3:14 NIV)
and…
“Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”
(1 Corinthians 9:24-25 NIV)
God has put everything in a season… and for a reason.
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:”
(Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIV)
“To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven”
(Ecclesiastes 3:1 NKJV)
Wait on the Lord, SHEMA. Hear His voice and do what He asks, and be patient. You were chosen not just for a time like this, but for the perfect time and place.
