Food for Thoughtš”: On Scripture
And time and hope.
Time is a gift. But a tricky one. After all it prolongs and keeps on giving itself when we want immediacy, but withholds when we want something to last forever.
"Please prayā¦", my friend urged in a text. Important details followed. A very delicate situation going on with a family member was the reason for the plea for prayer. My heart sank. I could hear the concern in the words as I read the wrecking details of the situation. After reading the whole, my heart was heavy too. Carry each other's burdens, is what we do. And in the process, our back hurts a little and our heart a lot.
The outlook for change in the situation that burdens my friend's family isn't likely to change soon. But, that is not the whole story.
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One of the advantages of reading through Scripture over and over, especially with the more familiar stories, is how it helps to experience the word of God afresh. New angles we missed, information or details to notice for the first time.
As I make my way through the Bible in chronological order once more, I'm navigating the book of Exodus. After the literal fantastic display of power by which God takes his people out of Egypt, so begins their journey through the wilderness toward the land God promised. Through Moses God shares with his people his plan for them.
Many times the Israelites are told about the land God promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, their forefathers.
If you've read the Bible or watched Charleston Heston's rendition of Moses, you know the Israelites rebel and are consequently punished, and wander in the desert forty years.
Before their rebellion, though, in fact not that long after they cross the red sea on dry ground and begin their journey, amidst instructions, God tells them how he will drive out those occupying the land he's promised to give them:
"I will send terror ahead of you to drive out the Hivites, Cannanites, and Hitites. But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals would multiply and threaten you. I will drive them out a little at a time until your population has increased enough to take possession of the land."
Exodus 23:28-30 (NLT)
The plan was to drive Israel's enemies out "...a little at a timeā¦" Otherwise the wild animals would become a threat to them. Wow.
There is wisdom and care in God's planning. He regards and foresees the natural order of things. And can work to alter it, like he did in parting the red sea, or work within its boundaries.
In this passage the God of creation, who spoke the world into existence, is taking into account the natural order of things, including and especially time.
How much more should we?
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I think about my friend and the urgent prayer request for the family member and the situation of distress they are facing. We don't see the whole story, I texted. God has the final word. Hope has no expiration date.
The time that is sitting between today and the future may seem daunting, or maybe frozen still. Like nothing's ever going to change. Not so! It's moving along at the pace of hope. That means, waiting with the expectation that God is present and active. Sometimes he opens a sea right down the middle so that thousands of people can walk through it and know that he is God and for them. Other times he allows for things to happen a little at a time, because thatās what our frame can take.
How can we know what the days ahead hold? We don't. That's the space where hope lives. Waiting, anticipating.
Dear reader, time is a gift, and unwrapping it can look a lot like waiting. When we wait in Christ, for God to move, lead, act, comfort, provide, whatever the need may be, with the passing of time, we uncover something new the gift brings. Be encouraged! As always, thank you for reading this letter. Next week's will be on renewal. Till then! Love, Paola