Trust God's Heart

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Been a while since I last blogged. Since my last blog...a pastor in our area committed suicide in front of his wife. They have 3 children. My neighbor was a member of the man’s church and is really upset and confused about it. Doesn’t make sense. Two days ago, I got a call from a friend who said his sister and niece were murdered by the niece's husband... in front of their four young children! He is still running from the police as I’m typing this. Then yesterday, I spoke to a young man who was hooking up my internet at home. He shared how his wife had an affair with a leader in their church out on the west coast. He’s pretty mad at God about it.

I am reminded that there is a lot of pain out there...incomprehensible hurt. I read Lamentations from The Bible. Hadn’t read Lamentations in a while. The writer, Jeremiah was grieving over the devastation of God’s land and especially God’s people. Times were brutal. But in chapter three he writes,

²¹This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.

²²The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
²³They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.

²⁴"The LORD is my portion," says my soul,
"Therefore I have hope in Him."
²⁵The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
To the person who seeks Him.
²⁶It is good that he waits silently
For the salvation of the LORD.

³²For if He causes grief,
Then He will have compassion
According to His abundant lovingkindness.

Jeremiah’s heart was crushed, but he held on to His God. The lyrics of this old song recorded by Newsong say it well:

God is too wise to be mistaken.

God is too good to be unkind.

So when you don’t understand

When you don’t see His plan

When you can’t trace His hand

Trust His heart.

Our God is Good. He is Faithful. Don't understand? Trust His Heart!

God is Always on Time

Friday, December 4, 2009

I wrote as my Facebook status, “Doug believes that God is always on time”. I absolutely believe it! It MUST be true. I am holding on to that truth right now. I have been waiting on a lot of people and a lot of things lately.

Time pressure is crippling. Think about it. From our vantage point “timing is everything”. Problem is, our timing is not always in line with God’s sovereign timing. The result? We worry. We fret. We get upset. We get angry at those who are making us wait. Bottom line, we at times might question God’s intentions, because it seems that He is running a little (or a lot) late.

But for God to be God, He MUST be perfect in His timing of all things. I remember hoping that I would get married by the time I was 25. I hoped. I prayed. I dated a lot. Nothing! For twelve long years I “waited” for God. But in His awesome timing, I met Kristi, God’s gift to me. In hindsight, I see His perfect timing, though at the time of waiting, I experienced some very difficult days. Good things come to those who wait.

So here I am waiting on God, again. Waiting for His clear direction for our church. New location? New worship time? I’m also waiting for His clear direction in my personal life. So when will God make things clear? In His perfect timing. My job is to keep on seeking Him, do what I know He wants me to do, and do not lose heart (Galatians 6:9).

2000 years ago, God’s people were in a time of crisis, a time of despair. And in God’s perfect timing He sent Jesus to the rescue.

God’s Word says, “But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children” (Galatians 4:4-5).

Christmas is proof that God not only loves us, but is always right on time.

Waiting on God? Me, too. But personal experience and more importantly, His Word, assures me that God is always right on time.