We live in an instant age where speed of activity is regarded as essential. As a society we spend a great deal of time trying to improve efficiency. The recent COVID-19 lockdown had slowed down the pace at which we were travelling. I have noticed in the past few weeks the pace is picking up again. The sounds of the birds are starting to disappear and there are certainly a lot more cars on the road as people are back to work and starting to go out again.
While we were in lockdown, I spent extra quality time with God, and I realised that God isn’t interested in “speed dating”. We may be trying to cram as much as we can into our day, but God isn’t rushed. That is obvious by the number of situations in the Bible where legacies have taken generations to come to fruition. Sometimes it’s been through the children of the person who received the word of God, in other cases it was their grandchildren and beyond. God is a God of the generations: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Israel) and Joseph seeing legacy worked out over a considerable period of time.
We have to do the counter-cultural thing and play the “long game”. Our part is to live expectantly – in that way we are to keep returning to what God has said to us, thus keeping it fresh in our minds. In my life I have seen God move remarkably quickly to bring things to fruition, but I also have things God has said to me that I’m still waiting to happen. I recently realised that I had had a prophecy, from years ago, come to pass and I had not really recognised it because the answer didn’t come as I was expecting it to.
When I first became a Christian in the very early 1990’s, the Lord gave me a word from Isaiah 54 that said, “All your sons will be taught by the LORD and great will be your children’s peace.” This word gave me confidence, but I still had to wait to see this outworked. My children are all aged over 30 now and are all journeying with God. They all are regular church goers, and I might say are capable of having some lively theological discussions amongst themselves. Unfortunately, there are no “grandchildren” in the Christian world so now my children have to work with their own children to see that word continue to flourish.
As well as being expectant people we have to be a faithful people. As it is said most people in life don’t fail, they just give up. Had they kept going they just may have pushed through. A case in point; if the Israelites had only walked around Jericho for six days not seven, they would not have achieved the needed result of seeing the walls of the city come falling down. (Joshua 6:2-17).
If you like me are still waiting on God for some words and things to come to pass, please press in and keep going because we do serve a faithful God.
Discussion Question: Do you have stories of words from God that have taken a long time to come to fruition?
Blessings
Paul Monahan