Thought for the Week

Winter has just barely begun. Spring is far away. Many of us do not like winter’s cold challenges. What can we do? There is one thing we must surely do: “Wait!” Of course we may not like waiting very much either. There are three ladies from Scripture we can look at. First there is Sarai, Abram’s wife. She wanted a child and for a long time was not able to have a child. She knew God had promised one but was impatient. So she went ahead with her own plan. She gave her maid servant to her husband to have a child for her as a surrogate mother. This has resulted in 4,000 years of hostility between the sons born to them. The second woman is Hannah. She was also aggressive in pursuing the birth of a long-awaited-son. Her plan was different. She strongly engaged God in prayer asking almost in desperation for God to grant her prayer for a son. He heard and He did. The third lady is Ruth. She was a stranger, foreigner, in the land of Israel. She most certainly had hopes and dreams and likely wanted things to happen quickly. Her mother-in-law, Naomi, gave her this counsel: “Wait!” She did and in the due course of time, God did work things out. Ruth became a mother and not only a mother but a mother in the line that included King David, King Solomon and even Jesus, The Christ. Unfortunately, sometimes we make our own plans without consulting God or without waiting for God’s guidance, and we end up in trouble. Sometimes those troubles are enormous and although we got into them by ourselves, we cannot get out by ourselves. (see Proverbs 14:12 & 16:25) It is far better to wait for God’s guidance, I know that is difficult, but it is far better, than to rush on ahead with our own plans. We may not want to do nothing while we wait. It is certainly fine to pray, seek God’s guidance and even the council of other good and godly people. But the ‘go ahead’ from God is a requirement. It may seem strange to us but God also needs to wait sometimes. A wonderful verse of Scripture Galatians 4:4, gives us the indication that God’s Plan, conceived in His heart and mind, was several thousands of years in the waiting phase. But, when the time was “fully come” God did actually send His Son as predicted and prophesied, to complete God’s Plan for the salvation of man, his redemption from the curse of Sin. As we search the Scriptures, we will find God had to wait frequently until He got everything lined up perfectly before He could carry out His plans. There are many, many prophecies in Scripture that required perfect timing. But our God is all wise (‘omniscient’) and He can work out any and all of His plans. It is why He is worthy of all praise because “He does everything well.” It seems no matter where we are, waiting is the best: The kitchen (Undercooked food is dangerous), The Garden (Picking unripe fruits or vegetables is unsatisfactory), The Marriage (Sex before marriage results in broken hearts and ruined lives) There are a host of other places where we can see “Patience is a virtue” “Haste can lead to disaster.” Take God’s advice and wait for His plan to unfold. Keep your plans folded and take time to pray, asking God to work out His plan for your life. Hold God’s hand. Don’t rush ahead nor lag behind. Walk step with step makes for better communication.

Scriptures to Read

Proverbs 14:12 & 16:25

Genesis 16:1-6

Genesis 21: 1-7

Genesis 21:8-10

I Samuel 1:9-20

Ruth 1:8-21

Ruth 3:1-5 & 18