No Ordinary Invitation

Our inability to wait for God’s timing can cause us to step out hastily and recklessly, but it can also cause us to refrain from stepping out at all. We can get ourselves into uncomfortable and troubling situations when we allow ourselves to be impatient and restless—but also when we allow ourselves to be fearful and hesitant. When we are impatient, we try to plant when it is time to plow, or try to harvest before the crop is fully mature. When we are reckless, we sow the wrong seeds in the wrong fields, or we forget to even sow the seeds. And when we are fearful or hesitant, perhaps we do not even attempt to tend the crops, or else by the time we do finally get to the fields, it is too late. Consequently, all of our ill behaviors get the processes out of order, and under conditions like these, things can no longer come to pass the way they were meant to. Detours have to be taken, courses have to be corrected, and sometimes, irreparable damage is done.

We can see a prime example of such behavior when we look at how the Israelites got off of God’s path and onto their own shortly after they were delivered from Egypt. God wanted them to enter the Promised Land in a specific way and time, but they did not want to go that route and accomplish what He asked them to do along the way to their destination. Their disobedience then resulted in a very long scenic route that was not very vacation‑like (see Num. 32). Unpleasant consequences result when we cannot wait and when we cannot leave well enough alone, but they also result when all we do is wait at a time when God wants us to be moving along.

Our striving and rushing do not make things better for us and the situations; they only make it worse. Our inaction does not lead to any good results either. It is impossible to have peace and rest when we fight what God desires; however, when we surrender our agendas to His bigger and better plans, immeasurable peace will enter our hearts and minds. What He has in mind for us is beyond anything we could ever imagine. His plans and purposes are grand and unfathomable. He sees the end from the beginning. Sometimes, however, we become prideful and think that we deserve certain things. But instead of making our lives in our own images, we should be making them in God’s image. Rather than trying to pick up in the middle where we think He left off, we should trust Him. We are currently alive within the times and the bounds that He has appointed for us to live (Acts 17:26). He holds our lives and breaths in His hands; thus, we should trust Him with His plans and timing. We are not called to be restless and press on without Him, we are called to rest and wait patiently with Him.

It seems counterintuitive, countercultural, and counterproductive to rest. Resting is the opposite of what we are taught and the opposite of what we normally do. We strive and rush and race—against the clock, against the calendar, against others, and against ourselves. We try to accomplish what we are told to do, what we are pressured to do, and what we are obligated to do. It is good to be productive and responsible—if we are being productive and responsible with the things that God has called us to do, that is.

Our perspectives should be plumbed with God’s perspective so that we do not miss the blessings of life, the abundance of life, and the true meaning of life. He gave us our lives for this time and for specific reasons, but if we are focusing on our own pursuits, we are not focusing on His. When we are busy looking at ourselves, we will miss seeing where He wants us to go; we will also miss what He has for us along the way and at our destinations. Also, this self‑interest will turn our characters into something less than desirable. We might end up becoming snippy, gruff, angry, impatient, prideful, and grouchily exhausted. Thus, in order to find the treasures that God has for us, we need to defy both our selfish natures and the pressures of society that send us searching for our own treasures. Our motives need to be pure. Our efforts should not be for the purpose of vainglory. King David said that the Lord daily loads us with benefits (Ps. 68:19). This is a wonderful “burden” to have, but we have to choose to accept it. We have to set aside the rush hour so we can have the rest hour. The resting period does not even need to be an hour, though, because rest can come to us at any moment in which we focus upon God and accept the peace and endurance He provides to His children. And nothing can counter that.

When we patiently look to see where God is working and find evidence of His efforts, we will be amazed. We must realize, though, that there will be times when we will not seem to see Him at work. He is working, though, for His great and glorious purposes, of which He so graciously allows us to be a part. We do not need to fret and wring our hands with impatience—He is getting the job done whether we can see it or not. We do not need to know the details of the future, we just need to know the God of the past, present, and future, who holds every detail in His hands. We are His workmanship and His masterpieces, created with love and time. He is not only doing things around us, He is doing things in us and through us while we wait on Him.