God's Timing ...

Friday, July 19, 2013. Sometimes, we need help. We are in trouble. We do not know how to go on or how to continue. Then, we go to God in our difficulties. We ask him for help. We beg him. We pray to him, again and again.

Does God Answer? …

Do you know the situation where God does not seam to answer your prayers? You have asked him for help, but help did not appear. Your troubles continue. Your sorrows continue. Your weeping continues. You do not see light at the end of the tunnel. You do not know, what the Lord is up to, you do not know how hope and perspective can come in this matter.

Many of us have experienced this type of feeling. Some have waited for years, to find the right partner. Others have been without a job for a long time. Others have been ill or are ill, and it is not clear how the Lord wants to help. What is his idea of help and timing? What does he want to do?

God's timing is not always what we expect. He acts, but differently to what we think he will do. He can open doors, which have been closed for decades. He can flatten mountains, which seemed to be there for eternity. He can heal where no healing seemed possible for many years. But he does not always do it right when we ask him. He has his own timing.

When will he act? …

11 Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. 12 As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” 14 Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” 15 The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. 16 They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.”** 17 This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country. (Luke 7, 11-16)

There is something which struck me many times in the biblical stories. Jesus comes, but the people are dead already. All the wishes for healing, all the fighting, all the hope - it is gone. There is nothing to gain any more, when death has come. But for Jesus, that does not seem to be an obstacle. He is healing the dead. He is coming, and by his word only, things change.

When we have given up. When we are completely at the end. When we cannot rely on our strength any more, then God acts. (Roland Potthast) ... more texts