Part 16 (2/2)

This story has several lessons, but one of them is about responsibility. The Father asked both sons to do the same thing. One said yes but did not fulfill what he promised. I see that kind of activity today. G.o.d constantly calls people to service, but not everyone goes. The second son is like those who get excited and tell everyone about the great call of G.o.d on their lives. But troubles come along, finances hang them up, and health problems drag them down-in short, they find many ways to avoid their responsibility to respond to G.o.d's call.

Some of us are like the son who initially refused: We resist at first, because we feel unworthy, uneducated, or unequal to the task. But eventually we surrender and do exactly what G.o.d wants.

”Which of the two did the will of the father?” Jesus asked, and everyone could see it was the reluctant one. Perhaps he counted the cost, or perhaps he wanted to be sure he could be faithful. But whatever the reason for his initial refusal, he finally said yes. He was responsible.

Let's look at the son who quickly said yes but failed to do what his father asked. I've met many people like this. When they answer the call, they're enthusiastic. They're positive this is G.o.d prompting them (and that is not for me to judge). But then G.o.d doesn't send them out immediately or things don't happen as they expect, so they encounter delays. They wait. After a while, they become impatient.

That's the crucial period where responsibility counts most: Being true to G.o.d's will when nothing seems to be happening. This is once again where you will find yourself when you fight the battle for the mind. Satan steps aside during the excitement and the glory of the call. He waits until you've started to question, Did I hear G.o.d right? Does G.o.d really want me to do that?

Unlike the son who held back, struggled first, and then said yes, you've already said yes and now you're fighting to finish what you've committed yourself to do.

Responsibility is our response to G.o.d's ability. If you are going to be responsible, you must respond to the opportunities that G.o.d places in front of you. And being responsible means staying at it. It often means waiting patiently. Be like Abraham-even though he had to wait a quarter of a century for the fulfillment, G.o.d did exactly what He promised.

Young Joseph, in the Bible, had dreams that his father and brothers would bow down to him. Instead of their bowing, they threw him into a pit and sold him into slavery. But he remained faithful. He was seventeen when they sold him into slavery; he was thirty when he sold them grain. Joseph faced his responsibility-he refused to honor the negative circ.u.mstances, and he refused to listen to the devil's doubts. He held to his commitment to G.o.d.

Thirteen years may seem like a long time . . . or even thirteen days! But it's not the length of time that G.o.d counts: It's your response to His guidance. If G.o.d speaks, your responsibility is to shut your ears to doubts and open them only to G.o.d.

Heavenly Father, please forgive me for not always being responsive to You and to Your ability. Help me to focus not on circ.u.mstances and hindrances but on Your love and abundant resources. I ask this through the name of Your totally obedient Son. Amen.

97.

Timing Is Everything He who observes the wind [and waits for all conditions to be favorable] will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.

-ECCLESIASTES 11:4 Timing truly is everything. In 1984, I began Joyce Meyer Ministries. I labored faithfully and did what I believed G.o.d wanted me to do. I had a sense that G.o.d had bigger things for me, but for nine years, nothing happened to move me into those ”bigger things.”

In 1993, the opportunity came for Dave and me to take Joyce Meyer Ministries onto television. That was exciting, but it was also frightening. If I had given in to my old way of thinking-the negative voices that once filled my mind-I would never have moved forward. I sensed that it was a now-or-never time with G.o.d.

As Dave and I prayed, G.o.d spoke to me and said He was the One who was opening the door for me. If you don't take the opportunity now, it will never pa.s.s your way again. That same day Dave and I said yes.

Did the hindrances disappear? They did not. In fact, only after we said yes did we realize what a great responsibility we had taken on. For several days, every kind of problem hit my mind as if to taunt me and say, You're going to fall flat on your face.

I didn't listen to those voices-as powerful as they were. I knew G.o.d's will. I was going to do what the Lord told me to do-regardless of the results.

I share this story with you for two reasons. First, the writer of Ecclesiastes made the same point in a different way. He wrote that if we wait for perfect conditions, we'll never do anything. We can always find reasons not to obey G.o.d.

In fact, sometimes when we say yes to G.o.d, the enemy attacks with power to make us change our minds, to arouse doubt and confusion, and to make us wonder, Did G.o.d really call me?

The second reason involves timing. When G.o.d says ”Now!” that's exactly what G.o.d means. There's a powerful story in the Old Testament that ill.u.s.trates this. Moses sent twelve spies into Canaan. Ten of the spies saw only obstacles, and the people didn't want to go into the land. G.o.d became angry, and Moses pleaded for Him to forgive the people. He did, but He still said that none of them would go into the land. Instead, all would die in the wilderness. ”Moses told [the Lord's] words to all the Israelites, and [they] mourned greatly” (Numbers 14:39).

That's not the end of the incident. Early the next morning, the Israelites ” . . . went up to the top of the mountain, saying, Behold, we are here, and we intend to go up to the place which the Lord has promised, for we have sinned” (v. 40).

It was too late. The Lord had given them a chance, and they had turned Him down. It was no longer the right time.

Moses asked, ”. . . Why now do you transgress the command of the Lord . . . ? Go not up, for the Lord is not among you . . . For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you shall fall by the sword. Because you have turned away from following after the Lord, therefore the Lord will not be with you” (vs. 41-43).

That still wasn't enough for them. They went anyway, intending to take over the land-the very land G.o.d had urged them to take in His time, but not in theirs. Here's how the story ends: ”Then the Amalekites came down and the Canaanites who dwelt in that hill country and smote the Israelites and beat them back, even as far as Hormah” (v. 45).

It's all in G.o.d's timing. G.o.d never says to you or to me, Here's what I want. Do it when you're ready. Part of listening to the guidance of the Holy Spirit is hearing the call to act when G.o.d wants you to act. The timing is everything, because it's G.o.d's timing that matters-not yours.

G.o.d, it's so easy to miss Your will by not saying yes at the right time. Through Jesus Christ, I ask You to help me so that I'll be quick to hear Your voice and just as quick to obey. Amen.

98.

Instant Gratification So be patient, brethren, [as you wait] till the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits expectantly for the precious harvest from the land. [See how] he keeps up his patient [vigil] over it until it receives the early and late rains.

-JAMES 5:7 ”Instant gratification takes too long,” my friend said and laughed. She was standing in front of the microwave. She had set the timer for ninety seconds to heat her coffee. Her toe tapped as she impatiently waited.

I smiled as I watched, but then I realized that we've been spoiled by the word instant in our lives today. We have instant credit approval, instant oatmeal, and instant love. We've tried to trap G.o.d into the same way of thinking. ”G.o.d, give it to me now,” we pray. Or if we don't use those words, that's what we mean.

One of the things I've learned from my years of Bible study is that we can't hurry the Lord. He does things in His time. In earlier meditations, I've already pointed out the long waits Abraham and Joseph completed. Moses fled into the wilderness after killing a man, and waited forty years for G.o.d to tap him on the shoulder. Rachel prayed for years to have a child, and so did Hannah, before G.o.d answered them.

When G.o.d sent Ananias to pray for the blinded Saul (later called Paul), the Lord said, ”. . . Go, for this man is a chosen instrument of Mine to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the descendants of Israel” (Acts 9:15). After being healed, did Paul immediately rush out and preach to royalty? Years pa.s.sed before G.o.d fulfilled that promise. No instant gratification there.

Many people grow impatient in waiting, and of course, the devil uses that to sneer and say, ”G.o.d isn't going to do what He promised. If He were going to do it, He would have done it by now.”

As I've thought about the matter of human impatience, I've realized that impatience is the fruit of pride. The proud can't seem to wait for anything with a proper att.i.tude. It's as if they cry out, ”I deserve it-and I deserve it right now.”

I want to point out two things from the words of James 5:7. First, G.o.d doesn't say, ”Be patient if you wait,” but ”Be patient as you wait.” He uses the beautiful example of farmers. They prepare the soil and plant the crops, and then comes the waiting. They know that in G.o.d's time, the crops will produce, and they also realize that it's a different growing season for tomatoes than it is for wheat.

Second, we need to enjoy our lives now-right now while we wait. So many people complain about wasting time (which is how they talk about waiting). Instead of pacing and grumbling about how long we have to wait in line at the grocery store or the traffic congestion on the expressway, what if you said, ”Thanks, G.o.d. I can slow down now. I can enjoy this moment. Every second of my life doesn't have to be productive or bring results.”

The psalmist said it this way: ”My times are in Your hands; deliver me from the hands of my foes and those who pursue me and persecute me” (Psalm 31:15). This was the prayer by a man in a desperate situation. His enemies were out to kill him. Still, he didn't panic, but said, ”My times are in Your hands.”

Isn't that how G.o.d wants you to live? Your life and your times are in G.o.d's hands. Doesn't it follow then, that if you're facing delays and have to wait, G.o.d knows? He's the One who controls the clock of life. ”My times are in Your hands.” That's the way G.o.d wants you to live-and to enjoy the waiting time. Don't focus just on receiving or moving on. Focus on relis.h.i.+ng the moments that G.o.d has given you to relax, and enjoy them as a gift from G.o.d Himself.

G.o.d, I get impatient, and I want instant answers to prayers and solutions to my problems. But that's not Your way. My times are in Your hands. In the name of Jesus Christ, help me to enjoy the waiting time and remind myself that I'm waiting for You-and the wait is always worth it. Amen.

99.

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