God’s Perfect Timing . . .

 

READ Joshua 13–16

This week my husband golfed with a man who is eighty plus years old and cycles 40 kilometers (about 25 miles) a day. Sometimes stories like this are encouraging; sometimes they fill me with dismay. I’m happy if I can walk 30 minutes a day, or about 7000 steps. That is a mere 3.5 miles. This golfing senior makes me feel old!

Well, I am old. This morning I woke up with a slow pulse, feeling sleepy, and wanting to stay in bed. Habit and discipline won over those feelings and I made it to my desk to read this:

Now Joshua was old and advanced in years, and the Lord said to him, “You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land to possess. (Joshua 13:1)

Joshua and Caleb survived forty years wandering in the wilderness and were the only two that made it to the promised land from the original group that left bondage in Egypt. Caleb said this: “And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming . . . .” (Joshua 14:9–12) It seems likely that Joshua was likely eighty-five also when the Lord told him he still had work to do, battles to fight.

Before reading Joshua, I read Scotty Smith’s prayer for today, and the last line became my prayer too. It said, “May Your voice be ten times louder than the murmurings around me and the grumblings inside me.” After chuckling at God’s timing and adding the words from Joshua, what battles do I still need to fight, not for land or against the evils out there, but for victory over sinful habits and selfish attitudes?

I could start the list with grumblings inside me, the ‘poor me’ focus so easily taken when this body hurts, or life doesn’t go the way I wanted, or when people are thoughtless or even mean to me and to others.

Another battle is my fight against putting off or avoiding things I know I should do and instead allowing myself to be side-tracked. Sometimes it is sheer laziness, taking advantage of doing very little ‘just because I can’ rather than being proactive and taking the initiative when others are in need. God’s voice actually is ten times louder than my complaining, but also louder than my excuses.

And lest I let this list become another way to stay self-focused, the Lord gives me a few ideas. I could make my hubby’s favorite foods for supper, instead of looking for the easiest recipes. I could call a friend who hinted that she was needing me to call. I could finish a quilt for that special person that needs one. I could spend a few minutes in prayer thanking God for those things that I grumble about and praising Him for His power to use them in my life, all because . . .

I know that for me, who loves God, all things work together for good because He called me according to his purpose. He knew ahead of time that He would conform me to the image of his Son . . . then called me, justified me, even glorified me in Christ. What then shall I say to these things? If God is for me, who can be against me? (Romans 8:28–31)

Self-pity is not allowed! As 2 Corinthians 4:7–18 says, I “have this treasure in a jar of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to me. I am afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in my body. I am always given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in my mortal flesh . . . . So I will not lose heart. Though my outer self is wasting away, my inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for me an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as I look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

My battles are not like Joshua’s literal wars, but the promise is the same . . . Joshua 1:8–9 (personalized) says when I focus on His Word and let it rule my mouth and my mind as well as my actions, then I will enjoy spiritual prosperity and success. God commands me to be strong and courageous, not frightened, or dismayed at how fast the days fly by, for He, the Lord God, is with me wherever I go.

 

God’s plan for financial stability

Deuteronomy 15:1–17:20; 2 Corinthians 4:7–18; Psalm 37:1–22

Just to affirm that “God’s ways are not our ways” comes these two verses from the Old Testament that tell how God wanted His people Israel to deal with debt . . .

“At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release. And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, because the Lord’s release has been proclaimed . . . . For the Lord your God will bless you, as he promised you, and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow, and you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you.” (Deuteronomy 15: 1–2, 6)

This is radical stuff. Imagine the difference it would make in everyone’s life if all debts were cancelled every seven years and none of God’s people could borrow money, only lend it. I wonder how many Christians know about this plan regarding debt. I wonder how many of us have figured out why we don’t follow it.

A clue to the why question is in these two verses. They are telling God’s people what to do it a poor person comes asking for money, not a typical beggar, but a brother who is down and in a bad place, without money and needy. This is what God says . . . “You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’” (Deuteronomy 15:10–11)

The hint is there . . .  what keeps us from adopting this astonishing plan? Grudging hearts toward the poor, and while it doesn’t say it, the truth is, most of us are too greedy, too afraid that if we give generously, we will go without. Dare we admit that we secretly believe God will not take care of us?

I’m using the ‘royal we’ because this is so common, and because I’m part of the motley crew that sometimes doubts the goodness and generosity of God. When that happens, I have to do some serious talking to myself. The Bible says the most amazing thing about God’s promises for my needs: “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:31–32)

God gave Jesus up for me. Not only that, God gave Jesus to me. He lives in me. That is the greatest treasure and even greater because I did nothing to earn or deserve Him. “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7)

For that reason, I can look beyond the temporary, beyond the external things of life, beyond my own needs. Isn’t God sufficient to take care of all that and more? Of course He is.

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16–18)

I can give away whatever needs to be given for only one reason; my God knows what I need, and if I give away something that I need, one way or another He will give it back to me or see that I get another one. That includes every dollar, never mind all the other stuff that is possible to give away.

Along that same line of thinking, the psalmist says, “The wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives; for those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land, but those cursed by him shall be cut off.” (Psalm 37:21–22) This means that the Lord is Lord of all, and not only that, He is a perfect financial adviser!

Eternity on my mind

Because of the mind of Christ, those days that are difficult, those times that seem hopeless, and this life that is so fleeting do not bother me, at least as long as I allow His mind to rule my thinking. Jesus has an eternal perspective and is happy to share it with His children. That is, when this life turned against Him, He had His mind on something else and therefore could say, “Not my will but Thine be done.”

The secret of thinking that way is in looking to eternity. The Bible tells me to “run with endurance the race that is set before me, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of my faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despised the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1–2, personalized)

The older I get, the more excited I am at the thought of eternity with God be. However, even without the aging process and the inevitability of dying, there have been tough times where God showed me that having Jesus living in me was a treasure beyond compare. How else could I stay calm in threats to my family? How else could I endure physical pain and close calls to health? How else could I not worry when life became hopeless and I was helpless? It is Jesus, my treasure, who gives victory . . .

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh . . .” (2 Corinthians 4:7–12)

Knowing Jesus and trusting Him means “knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.” When I die, I will live forever with God. I will also share that joy that enabled Jesus to endure the cross. With this secure, then all else is bearable, even seems a small thing. Because of Jesus, life is as the rest of this passage says . . .

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16–18)

This is not a pie-in-the-sky faith, nor is it a form of defeatism. It is not an excuse to be uninvolved in life. Rather, having this treasure means death not my enemy, and life is an amazing adventure where I can confidently give it my all knowing that He is with me. Even on those days where my confidence lapses or I worry instead of pray, I still have that deep sense of hope and joy, not because of me, but because of this amazing treasure that lives within.