God
Works In Mysterious Ways! A Bit Of
Reflection!
What
Do You Think? Is The Lord Too Patient
And Slow Or In A Big Hurry?
I'm not sure. I can't decide if I think that God is very patient, or if he is in a great hurry. I see many signs that he's so very patient, almost as if he's not doing anything, and yet at other times, I see his hands all over a situation and I wonder why he just can't wait.
Spiritual Growth
The Bible compares spiritual growth to the growth of a tree or a plant. Psalm 1 talks about a child of God being like a tree planted by streams of water. Jesus compared his kingdom to a mustard seed. Have you ever watched a seed planted in the ground? Not much happens. You'd have to stare a long time at a tree to see any growth.
That's kind of how it is with spiritual growth. It's more like cooking a meal in a crock-pot than it is like heating it up in a microwave. Have you noticed that in your life?
When God is at work for our growth in faith and in loving service, not much usually happens overnight. I can't really say that any one particular trip to the altar to receive the Lord's body and blood has had a transformational effect on my life as a Christian. I've know each time I commune the refreshing of his grace and forgiveness, but I'd have to say that I'm pretty much the same on Sunday afternoon as I was on Sunday when I woke up.
I remember times of Bible reading or especially of Bible study with friends when I learned something significant, when the "lights came on" so to speak. In fact, I remember dozens of times like that. But I can't really say that any one of those times of learning and insight revolutionized the way I lived overnight.
But as I look back over the years, I can see that God has been up to something. the cumulative effect of all the sermons I've heard and all the times I've studied his word have made a transformational difference. A crock pot difference, not a microwave difference.
And yet, I sometimes have a sense that God is very urgent about my spiritual growth. I may not see much happening as I look at one of the oaks in my backyard, but closer examination would prove that there is a world of wonders happening in that tree.
There's a massive and highly active circulatory system in that tree, pumping water and nutrients dozens of feet into the air through miles and miles of vessels out to the tip of every limb and leaf. Billions of little tree cells are working miracles of life and growth, and it's all happening before my eyes.
God is at work in us in powerful ways when we're involved in word and sacrament. Missing even one Sunday in worship, or one trip to the altar, or one day of devotion and prayer, or one session of a ChristCare Group does make a difference, because recognize it or not, God is always at work when we gather in his name and his word is read and studied and applied. God is not patient at all. He's not at rest. God the Holy Spirit is far more busy around us and in us than we think.
Human Frailty
I wonder sometimes why God is so patient with us and the dumb things that we do. I've certainly given him every reason to send the proverbial bolt of lightning and give up on me. He sure seems patient.
If you read the Bible, that's the first impression that you get. God is good. The people thank him for his goodness. Then they forget. And they wander away. And they get into trouble. And God watches patiently as they stew in their sin, wondering how God could let such trouble happen to them.
Like the father waiting on the porch for his prodigal son, God our Father is so patient with us.
The long history of the Christian Church is the history of God's people interfering with his plans and purposes through their twisting of the Bible's message for their own purposes, through their squabbling and bickering amongst themselves, for their constant confusion of priorities in the mission work he's given us. I imagine the Church sometimes as a bunch of kindergartners given the task of assembling a castle out of blocks, and the Lord is like the teacher who calmly and quietly keeps encouraging, directing, guiding, while the children never seem to get it quite right. How patient he is. Certainly he has every reason to be frustrated and angry with us, but generation after generation he calls people like you and me to do his work. And generation after generation, we stumble all over ourselves.
And yet, God enters into every generation through his word of conviction and calls us to continual, daily repentance. The Church is continually undergoing God's work of reform as we examine the error of our ways, fall before him in repentance and move forward in renewed obedience. He is so patient, and he is so urgent about the work he's given us to do.
"Come, Lord
Jesus!"
And why is he so patient about his return? The apostles stood gazing into the cloud in which Jesus ascended, expecting, it seems, that he would return just as he left and presumably within a matter of minutes. Finally, the angel said, "Get on with it!"
Well, it's been a couple of thousand years. Is he coming back or not? In every age of the Church, beginning with St. Paul, Christians have been convinced that the Lord Jesus would return within their own lifetime, but still he is patient and the world rolls on and on and on, waiting for that day to finally arrive. We keep praying, "Come, Lord Jesus!" but he hasn't yet.
And yet, he has. And he does. So often it seems that far too often and far too suddenly the Lord Jesus comes and calls home one of his children. Thousands and thousands of times he's called, "Time's up!" and received someone to himself, leaving us wondering why he is in such a hurry to take us home.
And more than that, Jesus is not slow in coming here again to this earth, but just as he promised those apostles on the mountainside, he would be here continually and always through the presence of his Holy Spirit. And that Spirit is making daily visits among us, touching lives with faith, inviting them to know the peace and joy of the presence of Jesus Christ who comes in answer to our prayers. Jesus is so patient about his return, but so eager to come and visit us one by one.
And so... Well, we continue on, living in this tension of the paradox of the faith, that God works in us and in our world very slowly and patiently, but also knowing that today is the day that he comes to do his great work in us, working in us, changing us, shaping and molding us, transforming us from ordinary people into extraordinary servants.
How slowly he works, and how much he has to get done today!
God be patient with you today, and may he do his work in you right now!