“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end". (NIV) Ecclesiastes 3:11

God created us and placed us in the bounds of time. He has always sought our good, but then in His own time. However, it becomes sometimes very difficult to catch up with the Almighty regarding His schedules for us. On one hand, we see beauty, comfort, hope and bliss to our bewilderment, and yet on other times, nothing but pain, grave loss, tears, and goriness pops.

For the good times, we all wish they never cease; we nearly always wish for their eternity in our lives, for our comfort and relieve. Contrary to the good times, the bad times strike us to remember that there is probably no time at all- at least no time to harbour pain and troubles in this life.

Beloved, these contrasting inevitable life experiences very well remind us of the purpose of God for our lives: He has put eternity in our lives. Mortal as we may be, God still works so mightily in us and through us even beyond our short span of life. He acts above our “good” and “bad” experiences. He does not reveal the whole picture to us, regarding the abundance and the painful losses that we experience daily. His works are too vast to fathom.

We must trust that God is forever in control and that “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him."(1 Corinthians 2:9). God is in control; He still works and will surely be our constant help. Amen.

Tomorrow's results || More

"Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows." (NIV) Galatians 6:7

Dr. Phil once stated that a fundamental law of life is that when we make choices, we choose not only the activity, but the results of that activity. This is something that should be both a warning and encouragement for us.

Whatever decisions we make today, we need to consider more than what the result will be at the moment. Those decisions will affect us tomorrow and sometimes even small decisions can affect us forever.

For example, the decision to drink a beer with a buddy might seem very tempting. You might enjoy the friendship and the feeling of being able to unwind and get rid of stress for a few moments. But what affect will that decision have on the future? What will it do the next time you are tempted to drink? It will surely become easier and easier.

What effect will breaking the speed limit have on you in the future? Perhaps someone will misjudge your speed and cross the road in front of you thinking they had more time and cause an accident. Will you walk away from such a thing?

For every decision we make, there are consequences. Sometimes we can see the consequences and sometimes we can’t see them. Often there are more consequences than we thought!

Consequences can be good for us or bad for us, welcome or unwelcome. To ensure that the consequences from our actions are the best we can make them, we should trust God enough to do what He says. In this way we ensure that even though some things happen we cannot foresee and bad things will still happen to us from time to time, overall our actions will bring positive and welcomed consequences tomorrow.

In His own time || More

This is what the Lord says, when seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future, then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. (NIV) Jeremiah 29:10-12

In the beginning of the chapter, the prophet Jeremiah sends a letter to the people of Israel who were in exile at Babylon. Even though it was not mentioned that the people of Israel were hoping to return home soon, it is just normal that as humans, they would like to return to their homeland, Jerusalem, as soon as possible. But then, the message from the Lord said something else. It said they should build houses and settle down, plant gardens and eat what they planted. They should marry and have sons and daughters and their sons and daughters should also marry and multiply. Why would the Lord want his people to feel comfortable in another man’s land? Does He plan to leave them there forever?

In fact, the Lord does not abandon His own. The plan of the Lord is best known to Him and no one can understand it until He finally executes it.

In our problems, the Lord is asking us to be patient and wait on him and that, at the right time, He will deliver us. He seeks to let us know that, in our times of need, we should rejoice and fret not knowing that He is in control of affairs and will definitely calm the storm no matter how long it takes.

Song: In His time, in His time,

He makes all things beautiful in His time.

Lord, please show me ev'ry day

As You're teaching me Your way

That You do just what You say in Your time.

-Diane Ball

How well do you listen? || More

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (NIV) Matt. 13:9

Jesus would often conclude a lesson during His earthly ministry by saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” For example, when He was discussing a matter about John the Baptist with the disciples, He said, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt. 11:15). After relating The Parable of the Sower, He said, “Who hath ears to hear, let him hear (Matt. 13:9). After His explanation of The Parable of the Tares, He said, “…who hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt. 13:43). In His letters to the churches of Asia, Jesus concludes each of them with a similar saying, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches…” (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 29 / 3:6, 13, 22).

What is the point in these sayings? It would be similar to someone saying today, “What is being said to you is important, so you had better pay attention and listen well!” It illustrates the point that Jesus saw a problem that exists even today. Many people today simply don’t listen very well to Bible truth. I sincerely believe this is a primary contributor to the spiritual failures in many Christians. They sit in worship services and Bible classes and are exposed to spiritual truths that can make a difference, but these truths are never really “heard.”

I am reminded of this same problem affecting the apostles during the public ministry of Jesus. For example, Jesus told them repeatedly that He would suffer many things at Jerusalem at the expense of its religious leaders. He would even be killed, but He would be raised again on the third day (see Matt. 16:18-23 / 17:22-23 / 20:17-19). Did they listen? No, they did not. In fact, when the arresting party came for Jesus, the disciple Peter tried to stop the action by wading off into the crowd with a sword (see Matt. 26:51 and John 18:10). On the surface, this action would seem to be commendable from an earthly perspective, but it was not the divine perspective. Jesus came to this lost and dying world to take the punishment for sin that we all deserve. The disciples should have known that. The Jewish nation should have known that (see Isaiah 53), but they had failed to listen to the message.

People of every generation make this same mistake. All of us from time to time miss information that comes our way because we don’t listen very well. But there is some information that no one can afford to miss, that being God’s Word. The problem may be that we are “dull of hearing” as some were in Bible times (Heb. 5:11-12), or the problem might be that of having “itching ears” (II Tim. 4:3-4). Regardless of the cause, truth passes us by that we need to obey.

Much of our education from elementary school on up tells us how to speak, but how much time is spent learning the art of listening? Come the Judgment Day, the sad refrain of many will be, “I wished I had listened better. I was so close to the truth." May we truly heed the challenge of Jesus while there is still yet time to change, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

Who is willing to consecrate him/her self today to the Lord? || More