God's will | Be Still...

2 Peter 3:8-13 – God’s Timing

Read 2 Peter 3:8-13

Have you ever heard someone say, “God’s timing is perfect”? I did, just today. It’s a phrase we like to use when God seems slow in answering our prayers. Peter calls out that big old elephant in the room for us. He starts out by explaining that God’s clock works differently than ours. “A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.”

Is that a helpful reminder for you? Are you waiting on God for something big in your life to happen? It seems like we are always waiting for something, whether it’s a job promotion, finding the right house to move into, getting pregnant, getting married, being able to retire and start living life the way you want. What is it for you? When we welcome God and expect him to move in these life events, we can trust he is working out the “best” solution for us. Could that be why one of the gifts of the spirit is “patience”? We must continue to wait.

Obadiah 17-21 – Promised Restoration

Read Obadiah 17-21

I learned today the Edomites were taken down in the 5^th century B.C. God used a people called the Nabateans to defeat the Edomites and force them from their main city of Petra. The interval between prediction and fulfillment would, therefore, have been very short, assuming Obadiah was writing following the Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem. When Obadiah prophesied this promise, it was probably thought to be crazy. Judah was the more likely candidate to not survive (that’s only when you take God’s will out of the equation)! The Edomites would later disappear from history completely, marking the total destruction of one of Israel’s enemies.

It always helps me to understand the context of a story to aid in understanding. The Negev region was very dry and hot in the southern part of Judah. The foothills would be found in western Judah. Phoenicia would be an ancient civilization along the Mediterranean, primarily located in modern-day Lebanon.

James 5:13-18 – The Power of Prayer

Read James 5:13-18

What happens when we pray, and no healing takes place? I’m sure you’ve had that happen in your life. Wrestling with God in those moments is difficult. We can feel like God has left us behind or turned a deaf ear to our cries!

Some of us blame God and even turn away. That’s never the answer. God has his reasons for answering prayer the way he does. Not healing is God saying no to our request. I learned a long time ago it doesn’t do any good to get mad at God or demand my way. I may never understand why God allowed someone else to be healed but not the person I prayed about. I trust God knows best, even when I cannot see.

James 5:7-12 – Patiently Waiting

Read James 5:7-12

What are you waiting on right now? Maybe it’s news from the doctor on a test. Maybe it’s a box of goodies in the mail. Maybe it’s that vacation you just booked. We all share in the wait for Jesus’ return, and James calls it out plain as day in this text. Are you feeling patient today? James said, “Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near.”

James has us think about farmers. Think of the patience it requires to plant seeds every spring and then wait. Wait to see if the seeds sprout like they’re supposed to. Wait to see if the rains come at just the right time. Wait for storms to pass so you can assess the damage. Wait for the crops to be ready for harvest. That’s a lot of waiting. But farmers accept the wait. They know it’s all part of the plan.

James 4:17 – Sinning

Read James 4:17

This will be your shortest reading ever! But it was a verse that packed a powerful punch, and it didn’t seem to fit with what came before or after. I chose to reflect on this single verse on its own. Here it is again from the NLT translation:

“Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do
and then not do it.”

James’ audience would know about sin. Those Jewish believers would even have flashbacks to following the law of Moses and all the sacrifices they now didn’t make. But what James is talking about here is not being sinful by breaking a law you should know better than to break, but to not do good when doing good is the right answer. Does that make sense?