REPOST Today’s AMI QT Devotional, provided by Pastor Ryun Chang (AMI Teaching Pastor), was first posted on October 1, 2014.
Devotional Thought for This Morning
“God’s Timing”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 (ESV)
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted . . .”
When I found out that the mother of Pastor Yohan (formerly with GCC, now at RCC) had passed and that his wife, after months of searching, had just received a job offer in California, I was reminded of God’s timing in my own life.
In 1999, a few days before my last Sunday at the church where I had pastored for almost 10 years, my mother-in-law, who had been connected to a tracheotomy and feeding tube for 6 years, died at home where my wife took care of her. Beside sadness, everyone was relieved that she, now pain free, went to a better place. I also sensed that we could now go wherever God would lead us because my wife was free from her filial responsibility.
In speaking of God’s timing, consider the story of Mordecai, a 4th generation Jew living in exile in the Persian Empire. Even though his cousin Queen Esther rose to great fame due to her heroics, without Mordecai, the insidious plan of Haman (responsible for legalizing the holocaust of the Jews [Esther 3:8-15]) would have succeeded. It all began when Mordecai happened to be at the king’s gate where he heard two officers plotting to kill the king. It was thwarted after Mordecai relayed the information to Esther who then told the king. The event was forgotten until about 5 years later, when the king, who, unable to sleep, had an attendant read the book of chronicles (6:1); the portion he happened to read was about Mordecai. The king honored him the next day, which began a chain of events that led to the demise of Haman and his plan. What perfect timing!
Regarding Pastor Yohan, although God had already called him to a new ministry in San Francisco, a job for his wife was pivotal for their relocation, some 3,000 miles away from his mother’s home. But God’s timing was perfect, once again: his mother, who longed for heaven, is now there—pain free; and this young pastor and his beautiful family have already begun a new journey of serving the Lord at RCC (Yohan’s account of their journey in the Sept. 9th QT).
My friends, be faithful in little things and patiently expect for God’s time to arrive.
Prayer: Oh Lord, how I praise Your Name this morning. I thank You that in Your perfect time, You make everything beautiful. How often I impatiently move out, without faith and trust in You, thinking that what I do can make a difference. Lord, I entrust myself to You and hide under Your mighty wings. Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: Revelation 11
Lunch Break Study
Read Ps. 37:5-7 (NIV): Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: 6 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.7 Be still before the Lord
and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.”
Matt. 24:45-50 (NIV): Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Questions to Consider
1 What is “waiting for God’s time”?
2. What makes waiting for God’s time so difficult? What do we tend to do when the waiting is prolonged?
3. What should we be focused on while waiting for God’s time to arrive?
Notes
1. The meaning of “waiting for God’s time” is avoiding doing things according to the ways that make sense to our reasoning, and just because it is convenient and advantageous to us. It is doing it according to God’s principles at a time when it may not be very convenient or beneficial to us.
2. It looks like others who do things according to their own ways are getting ahead of us. It makes us feel like we are losing out. So we tend to drop the original plan; that is, waiting patiently for God to move, and start imitating the ways of the world.
3. The psalmist says, “Do not fret when people succeed in their ways.” Among other things, consistently and meaningfully reading of God’s word and praying will help us to maintain our focus. In addition, Jesus reminds us to be faithful in whatever responsibility God has given us while we wait for the return of the King.
Evening Reflection
Before turning in, ask the Lord for strength to wait on Him and for His time. Remember that our lives are unfolding under His watchful eyes. Trust Him, especially when it seems to make little or no sense.