October 5, 2014 – Pastor Tim – “The Appointment”
Habakkuk 2:3,
The New Living Translation,
This vision is for a future time.
It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled.
If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently,
for it will surely take place.
It will not be delayed.
Our struggle is in waiting for the appointment we have with destiny. Perhaps I should first point out that God is a God of order; He does everything by appointment. He has a predetermined appointment to bring to pass His promise in our lives. God is never earlier and never late. Things arrive on God’s schedule and not ours. An appointment is a meeting already set up. Even through there can be many stormy winds that blow against our lives, God has already prepared a way of escape.
1 Corinthians 10:13, No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
Our comfort is in knowing that we have an appointment with destiny. It is the inner awareness that makes us realize that in spite of temporary circumstances, God has a present time of deliverance. Shari and I have experienced good time and bad time, up’s and down’s, stormy weather and beautiful sun shine, but, we are sure of our call and we know His plans are good and not to harm us. If we remain faithful we will reach the destiny God has for us.
We all can be enveloped in peace when we realize that nothing the enemy does can abort the plan of God for our lives. Greater still is the peace that comes from knowing we cannot rush God’s timing.
When the Lord speaks a word into our lives, it is like a seed. It takes time for a seed to sprout. God knows when it’s time to start developing, growing and producing.
In the Far East the people plant a tree called the Chinese bamboo. During the first four years they water and fertilize the plant with seemingly little or no results. Then the fifth year they again apply water and fertilizer… and in five weeks’ time the tree grows ninety feet in height! The question is: did the Chinese bamboo tree grow ninety feet in five weeks, or did it grow ninety feet in five years. Because if at any during those five years the people had stopped watering and fertilizing the tree, it would have died.
Many times our dreams and plans appear not to be succeeding. We are tempted to give up and quit trying. Instead, we need to continue to water and fertilize those dreams and plans, nurturing the seed of the vision God placed within us.
Our confidence is in God’s seed.
Isaiah 55:11, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
When the promise has grown in the fertile ground of a faith-filled heart and reached the time of the maturity, it will come to pass. It will be a direct result of the presence of God.
It will not be by human might or power, but by the Spirit of the Lord.
Zechariah 4:6, This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel:
‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’
Says the Lord of hosts.
The psalmist David said in Psalm 31:14-15,
But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in Your hand;
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies,
And from those who persecute me.
For me there is a sense of tranquility that comes from resting in the Lord. His appointment for me is predetermined. There is a peace that comes from knowing God has included me in His plans. God is a God of detail.
Luke 12:6-7, “Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
Sometimes we think the little things don’t matter, but, even the things we value as cheap and/or insignificant, God holds with value. We are of value to God, so how we do, and what we do, matters!
I love that God has numbered every hair, even the one that we have lost (details). Each of us should find peace in knowing God plans involve us.
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