When will the time come?

"Nevertheless, the time will come when I will heal Jerusalem’s wounds and give it prosperity and true peace. I will restore the fortunes of Judah and Israel and rebuild their towns. I will cleanse them of their sins against me and forgive all their sins of rebellion." - Jeremiah 33:6-8

Jeremiah's prophecy is fulfilled in the birth of Jesus, but it took a long time to come to pass. So, the question that lives with me, is: "how do we remain patient in the midst of our trials? How can we trust that the 'right' time will come and what will that look like?"

Although I don't have neat and simple answers to these profound questions, I have learnt to look back at what God has already done in our lives, and this helps me to remain 'hopeful' and 'resilient' in looking to the future. I need to build my future faith on God's faithfulness and on his covenant promises. 

In short, I won't know when that time will be, but I can trust that it will come. I have also learnt that God's timing is always on his own terms, and it is always in our best interests. 

"But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children." - Galatians 4:4-5

Living in grace

D3LM3

Late or right on time?

"There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. 

In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling short-changed. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!

Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready." - Romans 5: 3-8(Message)

I really enjoy Eugene Peterson's paraphrase of these verses from Romans. It gives me the peace that Jesus is always showing up in our lives, at just the right time! If you read it in different versions, you will get the same confirmation, but with a slightly different emphasis.

"When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners." - Romans 5:6

Living in Grace

D3LM3

God's timing

Many of us have a constant need to know what's going on and when! However, LIFE has an uncanny way of keeping these two things a mystery for us. Perhaps this is why Jesus reminded his disciples of this powerful truth:

Acts 1:7 (Message) - He told them, “You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Father’s business. What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit.

We need to be content with the gift of the Spirit (which should never be seen as the second prize by-the-way). He will lead us into the knowledge of all things. Timing is the Father's business.

As I write these words, I am busy recovering from my first case of Covid, so these words are intriguing for me. Is it just a case of 'God's timing' or 'it was eventually gonna happen?'  

Makes one think, doesn't?

Living in Grace

D3LM3

P.S. I apologise for the lack of blogs over the last couple of days, but I have barely made it off the bed. I appreciate the prayers and support. Stay safe.