January 2005

IN DUE TIME

A vital part of becoming God’s sons is to surrender “time” to the supremacy and dominion of the Eternity! Outwardly, it may seem that we are conforming to the time constraints of this world just because we arrive “on time” for school, or work, or various scheduled appointments; but that is only because it was the Will of God for us to be at that place- at that time! If it were not, we simply would have been “late” or not arrived at all. We are where we are at all times, because it is serving some divine purpose. We can avoid needless frustration, frenzy, and fury, if we relinquish each day to the Lord; and then do our best to move forward accordingly. Our persistent prayer should be “IF IT BE YOUR WILL....,” then fill in the blank.
         One day years ago, I was observing a lengthy list of things that all had to be done that day- or so I thought! The more times I read it over, the more my blood pressure rose. I could feel my pulse racing with utter vexation. Suddenly the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart in clear, distinct tones
        “THERE IS TIME ENOUGH TO DO THE WILL OF GOD!” I was startled by His words, but He continued, “If you pray for only My Will today, at day’s end, you can be assured that whatever got done did satisfy My Will, and what did not get done will either have to wait for another day, or perhaps be abandoned altogether.” A wonderful peace settled in my heart and washed over me as I reviewed my tally of “necessary” things to do, and certain items leapt from the page as if to say, “Do us first!” I calmly set out to eliminate one task after the other till time ran out. I sat down and appraised the items that remained, and to my surprise, they were trivial things that had no business cluttering up my agenda for that day. That’s when it occurred to me that the “enemy of our souls” had been at work trying to overwhelm me with unimportant pursuits to steal my victory over time!
         Often the Lord allows us to forget to seek His Will to teach us what exhausting chaos- or empty triumph- results from our fleshly choices. If we fail, we whip ourselves with merciless guilt and remorse; and if we succeed, we puff ourselves up with pride and vanity; however both are direct descendents of carnal-minded death! Ro 6:21 asks, “What benefit did you gain from those things of which you are now ashamed? Indeed, they end in death.” For man’s intellect and will are born “in bondage under the weak, beggarly elements of this world” (Ga 4:3, 9) And what elements are these? Greek 4747 says they are “principles and rudiments.” They are the standards by which the natural estate is operated. They are the beliefs and ethics set forth by the carnal mind. Paul noted, “We know that the Law is spiritual, but I am a creature of the flesh (carnal, unspiritual) having been sold into slavery under the control of sin,” (Ro 8:14 (AV)
         This means that our “time” is also in bondage to the principles and rudiments of this world. What hope is there for any man? How do we escape such tyranny? Peter reveals the way of rescue, “The Day of the Lord will come as a Thief in the night and the heavens (spirits) will pass away with a great noise; whose elements (principles, rudiments) will melt with fervent heat! The earth (carnal mind) and its *works will also be burned up. Now since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons should you be? Shouldn’t your conversation be in all holy and Godliness, while you look for, and rush to, the coming of the Day of God? For the heavens, being on fire, will be dissolved, and its elements (principles, rudiments) will melt with fervent heat! Nevertheless, according to God’s promise, we look for new heavens (spirits) and a new earth (heart of flesh) in which righteousness dwells.”(2 Pe 3:10-13) This promise first came through the prophet Ezekiel, “I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within you! I will remove the stony heart from your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.” (Eze 36:26)
         When we are possessed by a new spirit and new heart, we will surely redeem all of our time for the glory of God! And we will declare with David, “ALL MY TIMES ARE IN YOUR HANDS!” (Ps 31:15) What “times” are these? There is a list of 28 [in Scripture numerics, 28 = Eternal Life] in Eccl 3: 2-8, which are divided into 14 pairs [14 = Salvation and Deliverance]. These are, in truth, God’s Tree of the knowledge of good and evil [i.e., blessing and adversity] by which natural man has been dominated since the fall of the first Adam. We have all been “eating” the fruit of this tree since the day we were born enslaved to our fleshly natures. Let us review them now in Ec 3:1-8:

“To everything there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to get, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to rend, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate;
a time of war, and a time of peace.”

        May I expand this list saying there is a time to read and teach the Word of God, and a time to live and experience the Word of God; and only by God’s Wisdom can we know which is which!
We see this in the following account of Mary and Martha, “(Jesus) entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. She had a sister called Mary who sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word! But Martha, being encumbered by much serving, came to Jesus, and said, Lord, don’t You care that my sister has left me to serve alone? So order her to help me! But Jesus answered, Martha, Martha, You are anxious and troubled about many things: when only one thing is needful: and Mary has chosen that good part, which cannot be taken away from her.” (Lk 12:38- 42)
         It is all too easy to get caught up in the encumbrances, anxieties, and troubles of this world, that hinder us from “sitting at the feet of Jesus and hearing His Word. ” Was it wrong for Martha to be a good hostess and serve the Lord who was her guest? Not at all, but there is a time for doing, and a time for being! Martha’s did not have to “do” her serving at a time when it was more needful to “be” an attentive listener to the Lord as He was speaking. Surely, He would have indicated when it was appropriate for Martha and Mary to serve Him; but now it was time, for Jesus to serve them!!
         I have been constrained in recent months to spiritually “sit and listen” at the feet of Jesus, even while I fulfilled my necessary occupation as a private tutor to my secular students. I have been withheld from publishing any new sharings on this website during this “receiving time”; and when I sought the Lord about the possibility of losing the current readers who expected new sharings, He assured me He could raise up a whole new fellowship of readers, if necessary. And since long ago I vowed I would not (knowingly) write a word unless it was the Word of the Lord, I was able to rest at the nail-scarred feet of the Master, and humbly, joyfully receive His new revelations of Himself.
         In this regard, I beg you to be imitators of Mary and me, dear brethren. Be careful to know when it is time to DO the Father’s Will, and a time just to BE the Father’s Will in this world. For He has but one Agenda of Love to accomplish in the hearts of men, and His sons must be part of it.

“For this is both good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
Who WILL have ALL MEN BE SAVED, and come to the knowledge
of the Truth. For there is One God, and One Mediator between God
and men, which is the Man, Christ Jesus Who gave Himself to be a
RANSOM FOR ALL, to be testified IN DUE TIME!” (1 Ti 2:3-6)

Amen and Amen.

The Lord said to David, “Why have you despised the Commandment of the Lord,
and done evil in His sight? You have slain Uriah, the Hittite, with the sword and
have taken his wife as your own wife. You have murdered him with the sword of
the Ammonites; therefore now, the sword shall never depart from your house!”
(2 Sa 12:9-10)