an appointed time
Another message, another lesson learnt from an experience
My church and I were conducting a cute homeless drive, giving out care packages to the underprivileged in our community. Before distributing the packages, I had already pre-planned who was going to get a package because homeless people usually have a spot they settle in the town Centre.
There is one man who is always in front of a certain shop. This time around, when we had something to offer him that would have benefitted him immensely, he was not present. We went round and came back and he still wasn’t there.
Eventually, we left. The next day, I saw him at his spot but by that time it was too late.
This got me thinking, there is an appointed time for you to receive something from God. Life is full of seasons and each season requires a certain level of grace to ensure you get through it successfully and attain what needs to be attained. However, before a season, if one does not position oneself strategically to receive from God, you will find yourself in a whirlwind of confusion and dependency on the wrong source. God gives us grace to endure the season we are about to enter. A typical example of this is with our Lord Jesus Christ. In Matthew 4, He had to enter an extended period of prayer and fasting to receive the grace needed for ministry.
Another great example is the story of Jacob at Penuel (Genesis 32: 22-32). Jacob essentially wrestled with God until God blessed him. He was not doing this just to have a wrestling match with God and be blessed for fun. But actually, he was about to meet his brother Esau, whom he had taken his birthright (Genesis 27:1-40). Therefore, he knew that he needed some form of grace to be favoured by his brother. He positioned himself adequately so that God would bless him and if we read on, we see that he and Esau had a lovely reunion.
Another thing I will point out is the importance of tarrying and waiting on God. He has His own timeline and it is our duty to conform. You cannot rush the hand of God neither you can delay it. Habakkuk 2:3 beautifully puts it that even though it may tarry, it shall come to pass. I honestly think tarrying itself is an entire message but another thing I will leave you with is, that the act of tarrying builds intimacy with the Lord and that is our original dwelling place.
The primary message of this is that we must be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and always position ourselves correctly for the Lord to grace us. This is because life has too many seasons and we cannot afford to be disarmed or ‘dis-graced’. Otherwise, we will find ourselves living defeated lives and always blaming God when it is truly just our lack of grace and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit.
stay awake and contend for grace
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