The Long Wait. (Or Waiting for God to do Something.)

Around 4 years ago, God told my sister to prepare for a disaster of some kind. She was to buy equipment to survive in the mountains. For two years she bought these things from Amazon and was finally ready. She expected something to happen very soon, so did I. She was very impatient and wondered why God was taking so long to fulfill his words. She has now learned patience and is waiting on Him.

All this time, I’ve been reminded of how God made promises to many people in the Bible, but they had to wait for many years for their appearance.

Noah was told to build a boat. God told him the exact measurements and wood that he must use. Noah did this, but it took 120 years for him to finish. All the while, he preached to the people and warned them, but none believed him, and in the end only he and his family went into the ark and were saved.

God promised Abraham he would give him a son, but God waited for 20 years until his wife Sarah conceived. During that time of waiting, Abraham sinned and took matters into his own hands and took his wife’s slave, Hagar, and had a son, Ishmael, by her. This caused great heartache to all concerned. But God was with Hagar and Ishmael and helped them when they were forced to leave Abraham’s camp.

Moses was told he would rescue the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. He killed one Egyptian and was forced to flee for his life to the desert. There he lived for 40 years as a shepherd. He was humbled and close to God and now was ready for God to use him.

The Israelites were in the desert for forty years because they didn’t trust in God to help them fight for the land in Caanan. God waited until a new generation arose who would trust him to help them.

David was anointed King of Israel when he was very young. Saul was king at the time and he was jealous of David and tried to kill him. David fled and lived in the caves and mountains for around 20 years until he was finally crowned King of Israel.

The prophet Daniel was taken prisoner from Jerusalem, castrated and brought into King Nebuchadnezzar’s palace. He was taught the laws and ways of the Babylonians and given a job. He was exiled there for 70 years, when Cyrus defeated the Babylonians. God had made a promise that Cyrus would let the Jews go back to Jerusalem and rebuild it. Cyrus read the promise written years before and he obeyed God and did that.

After Jesus was crucified, arose from the dead and went back to heaven, many believers thought he would return right away. None of them knew it would be many years before his return. Perhaps some of the disciples knew this though.

In the 1980s, I noticed the rise of Christians getting deeply involved in politics. I knew from reading the book of Revelation, the end times would be when politics and religion would unite to persecute people in the Western nations. I thought Jesus might be returning very soon. Well, it’s been around 40 years and he hasn’t, but politics and religion are now hand in hand in the Republican Party. Christians have protested against gay people and made a fuss about everything they don’t like.

One thing I know for sure, none of the early Christians, nor Jesus himself, would have ever protested against the Romans or the Greeks. They told the people who joined their churches not to live as the Romans and Greeks lived. They told them of the love, mercy and forgiveness of God and how to live a noble life. The Apostle Paul even said he would have nothing to do with judging those who weren’t Christians. That was up to God.

Some of the year spans in this article might be off and few years, but I am 74 now and don’t feel like checking everything. May the Lord bless you with his light and presence.

 

How to Pray Like David.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fallaner

I listened to a podcast called, Exploring my Strange Bible, by Tim Mackie the other day. It was about how to pray like the people who wrote the Psalms. He said the Psalms are there for us to learn how to pray. Many times I have prayed with the Psalms, repeating the words as my own prayer. But he wasn’t talking about that. He was teaching us how to pray like the men in the Psalms.

He said a third of the Psalms are about pain and sorrow. They are called “Lament and Protest Psalms.” In these prayers, David and others give a detailed description of what is going on in their lives how they feel about it. They hold no emotion back.

In our western culture, we don’t usually do that. We tend to think God already knows everything so all we usually do is ask for help. We might say, “Oh God, I’m so depressed, help me.” And I know God answers those prayers. But Mackie said that telling God everything helps us in a different way.

He said people do one of two things with their emotions. They either stuff them deep down and perhaps deny them; or they pour out our emotions to other people. Both of these reactions are more harmful than good. When we tell others all our sad, mad feelings, we can make them feel sad and mad.

For me, sharing my sad thoughts with people has not helped. They usually don’t want to hear it, casually brush me off or try to offer solutions that don’t work. I feel alone and misunderstood.

When I push my emotions aside and don’t deal with them, I become very depressed. I feel alone and despairing. Then I go to a counselor and pay them to listen to me. Which does help, but not enough.

The Bible says, “Pour out your heart to God.” Psalm 62:8, Lamentations 2:19. Mackie says after telling God our thoughts and feelings, then make a request. Don’t tell God what to do, just tell him the situation and your feelings about that and believe me, he will know what to do for us and it will be wonderful.

Mackie says we should do the same thing with our doubts about God. If you are doubting his goodness, then tell him that and then request he strengthen your faith.

Many times the Psalmists remind God of what he has done in the past for people. They usually reference the Exodus from Egypt. Reminding God of his past mercies seems a bit strange to me, but I’ve been doing it because it is a part of their prayers. “Remember how you helped Joseph when he was in jail? Help me too.”

Most Psalms end with praising God for all he has done. I think that is a great way to end our prayers. We start out looking inside ourselves at our sorrow and pain, then around us at the chaos in the world, and we are discouraged. But then we lift up our heads and look at God and know he sees and feels it all; and this life, this world, will one day be over and we will be with the amazing God of the universe and so we praise him.

Don't Regret the Past.

After writing my last post, where I said I wish I had known spiritual things when I was younger, I felt the Lord did not want me to keep thinking and saying that about my life. There were so many things we need to learn about God and being a Christian. But God doesn’t zap all that knowledge inside us when we are following him. We learn as we live, struggle and experience the good and bad things of life. This is the way he teaches us.

God could have made David a king immediately after Samuel anointed him. But Dave had to flee and hide from King Saul for 20 years. If David had not suffered the loss of all things, even his family and home, we would not have most of the Psalms, which have given wisdom and comfort to millions of people. When I am in distress, I turn to the Psalms. They teach us how to rely on the Lord when we are confused, sad and frightened.

God could have delivered his people from Egypt at the time Moses wanted to do that. But he didn’t, and Moses was spent 40 years living as a shepherd before God called him. Moses must have matured and become patient as he looked after sheep. When God did call him, he felt he wasn’t up to the task, which is what God was waiting for. Moses had become humble, and as the Bible says, “The meekest man on earth.” Now God could use him.

God allowed Joseph to be a slave and then a prisoner before he could use him. Joseph had learned to trust God through two of the worst conditions that can come upon a person. He came to Egypt a spoiled child but grew to be one of the few people in the Bible that records none of his sins. His forgiveness towards his brothers is beautiful to read about.

I feel like God doesn’t want me to regret the past years of my walk with him. There were years when I was angry at him and wouldn’t speak to him. When I turned and came back to him, I could only read one verse in the Bible at a time. Slowly, I could read more and spend more time praying. I was an alcoholic during that time, for 10 years. Yet God didn’t leave me. He was always there hearing my prayers and helping me.

How do we thank a God like that? He stoops low to save us. He, himself, the God of the universe is humble. He will take us as we are. He has great patience to stay with us through all our trials and temptations. There is a song lyric, “I’m confident your faithfulness will see me through.” (Song: Confident, sung by Steffany Gretzinger)  I believe that now for myself. No wonder we will praise God in song through all eternity. 

Hmm, It Took Me 45 Years to Learn That!

Well, after my previous post, I've been thinking and praying. I've decided I have to leave the hard questions with God and not worry about anything. We aren't supposed to worry and fret so I won't.

I did think about how long God took to teach people in the Old Testament. Moses was 40 years working as a shepherd before he was ready for God to use him. David was on the run from King Saul for 20 years. Joseph was a slave and in prison for 13 years before God rescued and used him.

Human beings are not known for their patience. We like things done fast and tied up with a pretty bow. At least, I do. But God is very patient and I'm thankful for that. It can take years for a person to learn life lessons. And a lot of our learning comes from failing; just like scientists learn from experiments that don't work. Churches don't like it when we fail and they don't like to wait for us to learn something.

Maybe we shouldn't hate our failings so much. Failing at being kind or generous can bring some guilt, and not all feelings of guilt are bad. We can say we are sorry and begin again and ask God to make us into kind and generous people. He will. That's the great part. He will change our hearts into good hearts; into hearts that honor him.

If there was a church that worshipped on Saturday and had no rules and accepted everyone, and had a lot of singing of happy songs, sharing of our lives with God, and praising God, and praying together, I would go there. I feel pretty safe saying that because there will never be a church like that.