Even God Waits for the Fullness of the Time

[S] Galatians 4:4 --
4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,

[O] God's timing is the best timing and He will without mistakes carry out His will according to His perfect timing at all times.  So, waiting for and recognizing His perfect time (or fullness of the time) is one of the pre-requisite to carrying out God's will in my life.  If God had to wait for the fullness of the time before sending His Son to our world to carry out His will for us, there is no exception that I would have to wait for the fullness of His time also.

[A] How I long for things to happen on my own terms and timelines.  I must submit to His timeline and learn to know when the fullness of His time arrives for me to take proper actions.  There are some pending items in my life for which I've been seeking a right timing and based on this passage I am going to see if the fullness of time came for me or not.

[P] Dear Father, You know what are the areas in my life which need patience to wait for the fullness of Your timing.  Please grant my heart to not get anxious or complacent but be on the alert for the fullness of Your time.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Tested Until God's Perfect Timing

[S] Pslam 105:19 --
19 Until the time that his word came to pass,
The word of the Lord tested him.

[O] This refers to Joseph in Egypt, how we was unfairly sold as a slave by his brothers, imprisoned by false accusations and yet God provided him the vision which he clung unto through all these testing phases.  Being ignorant of God's word/vision and going on with my life is one thing but to know His vision for my life and to go through all the circumstances far distant from the vision itself is very challenging to say the least.  This passage encourages me because God's word will come to pass every time, and until then I am being refined and equipped to handle the God-sized vision for me.

[A] I need to turn my frustration of waiting for God's vision to come alive in my life into claiming joy for His equipping me to a dream of His size.

[P] Dear Father, I praise You for taking me into Your fold and nurturing me to handle the amazing vision You will manifest in and through my life.  Please continue to refine my life and may my heart be filled with rejoicing as I wait for the moment of Your glory.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Paul@Arabia.delay

[S] Galatians 1:15-18,23-24 --

 ¹⁵But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, was pleased
 ¹⁶to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood,
 ¹⁷nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus.
 ¹⁸Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days.

 ²³but only, they kept hearing, "He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy."
 ²⁴And they were glorifying God because of me.


[O] After Paul's conversion he spent three years in Arabia before he returned home to Jerusalem and then started to engage in the ministry Jesus started.  He began to meet some of the Christians there but stayed low just simply preaching the gospel in that region.  For someone like Paul, taking this "detour" in Arabia right after he was converted and commissioned to preach among the Gentiles must not have been easy.  Since God revealed His plan so clearly, why not just charge ahead into the ministry without losing any more time?  Well, God had another idea for Paul's life for him to integrate into the Christian community because of his previous position of persecuting the Christians.  For Paul, it may well have been his previous position, and for me it may well be for another reason but God's timing is different from mine.  My tendency is to use the time most efficiently by diving into my calling in ministry as soon as I hear it.  However, many times God wants me to spend some time in my own "Arabia" to be trained before entering into my calling.  I guess I need to learn how to obey Him in smaller things before I can take on God-sized tasks.

In verses 23-24 we can see the fruits from God's timing for Paul to enter into His ministry.  People heard about this guy who's preaching what he tried to destroy before and they glorified God through Paul's conversion.

[A] Ponder -- what is my Arabia?  Am I trying to go ahead of God in doing the ministry at my church?  Need to make sure I remember God's timing and bearing of His fruits is not necessarily no my terms and conditions.  I need to pursue His "results."

[P] Dear God, Your leadership in Paul's life is so accurate and purpose driven and yet Paul probably didn't appreciate that during the course of the three years in Arabia.  Like him, I may not appreciate what I'm currently going through but grant me the trust and faith to give You the gratitude now even if I cannot envision it.  I want to bear fruits like Paul -- the ones You want me to bear.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Whose Time Are We On?

[S] Luke 1:20, 38, 48-49 --
 ²⁰"And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time."
 ³⁸And Mary said, "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.
 ⁴⁸"For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave;
     For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed
 ⁴⁹ “For the Mighty One has done great things for me;
    And holy is His name.

[O] God's timing is always perfect.  When we are out of sync, He will lead us to sync up just as we see with Zacharias who muted because he overrode God's timing with his own understanding/timing.  On the other hand, Mary submitted to God's timing as "may it be done to me according to your word" and if I may add, "timing."  In verse 48 we see how God honors such submission by exemplifying such faith down the generations.  In verse 49, I must also note that the ultimate credit goes to God the Mighty One.

[A] Examine my heart to see if I am trying to trap God into my own dimension.  By doing that I am also trying to steal away God's glory as if it's mine.  I must stay humble and recognize the works of the Mighty One in my own life so others will God's handy works and not of my own.

[P] Dear God, thank You for showing me this verse of obedience in sync with Your timing.  May I be more sensitive to Your timing as I do my ministry and raising children at home.  I cannot foresee a second ahead of me and yet at times I feel as though I know the whole eternity.  Forgive my arrogant heart and may I submit to Your wonderful timing.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.