In Just the Right Time episode 168

WEBVTT

00:00:00.010 --> 00:00:02.890
If you love a prodigal, you can discover help

00:00:02.890 --> 00:00:06.290
and hope for your wilderness journey right here

00:00:06.290 --> 00:00:09.669
at the When You Love a Prodigal podcast, and

00:00:09.669 --> 00:00:13.130
also help and hope for your own life journey.

00:00:13.529 --> 00:00:17.769
I trust you have, since our episode on joy last

00:00:17.769 --> 00:00:21.829
time, found some joy surprises in your prodigal

00:00:21.829 --> 00:00:26.089
journey. Today, we're talking about God's perfect

00:00:26.089 --> 00:00:30.949
timing. It's the waiting, isn't it? Will it ever

00:00:30.949 --> 00:00:36.429
end? Will change ever come? Will the pain, confusion,

00:00:36.850 --> 00:00:43.070
fear, anger, despair ever end? And if things

00:00:43.070 --> 00:00:48.250
get better, will trouble return? I did not like

00:00:48.250 --> 00:00:51.649
the waiting. During the dozen -plus years it

00:00:51.649 --> 00:00:55.710
took Josh to turn from his pretty bad choices,

00:00:55.789 --> 00:01:01.009
we waited. on our knees, with tears, clinging

00:01:01.009 --> 00:01:05.250
to Jesus. In recent years, things have been much

00:01:05.250 --> 00:01:08.450
better. Josh is not making the terrible choices

00:01:08.450 --> 00:01:11.849
he did for so long. I don't call him a prodigal

00:01:11.849 --> 00:01:15.049
now. He has become a responsible, hardworking

00:01:15.049 --> 00:01:19.409
man. We have a great relationship. There is trust.

00:01:19.950 --> 00:01:24.090
But still, we waited. It was very challenging.

00:01:24.909 --> 00:01:29.049
And then it was challenging again. Josh's first

00:01:29.049 --> 00:01:33.069
marriage fell apart. In his despair, he returned

00:01:33.069 --> 00:01:37.629
to old patterns, made choices of the past. A

00:01:37.629 --> 00:01:41.689
brief reunion with his wife crashed, and he went

00:01:41.689 --> 00:01:45.010
into a deep depression. And I have said many

00:01:45.010 --> 00:01:48.969
times, I thought it was time. Isn't it time,

00:01:49.129 --> 00:01:54.319
Lord? Are we doing this again? How long, Lord?

00:01:55.260 --> 00:01:59.260
And I know you, my listeners, understand. We

00:01:59.260 --> 00:02:03.400
all know the truths of Scripture. We know that

00:02:03.400 --> 00:02:07.939
God is bigger than time. Listen to what the true

00:02:07.939 --> 00:02:11.860
followers in the Old Testament, who often grew

00:02:11.860 --> 00:02:16.960
weary in the waiting, came to understand. Moses

00:02:18.469 --> 00:02:21.909
I love this. A thousand years in your sight are

00:02:21.909 --> 00:02:26.050
like a day that has just gone by or like a watch

00:02:26.050 --> 00:02:29.990
in the night. That's from Psalm 90. Every time

00:02:29.990 --> 00:02:32.129
you hear that, I bet it blows your mind to think

00:02:32.129 --> 00:02:37.449
of a thousand years and a day. David, David had

00:02:37.449 --> 00:02:40.349
made some bad choices, but he comes and he says

00:02:40.349 --> 00:02:45.050
in Psalm 31, but I trust in you, Lord. I say

00:02:45.050 --> 00:02:51.800
you are my God. My times are in your hands. And

00:02:51.800 --> 00:02:57.319
Isaiah says in Isaiah 55, for my thoughts are

00:02:57.319 --> 00:03:01.419
not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,

00:03:01.680 --> 00:03:04.919
declares the Lord. And we all know that, don't

00:03:04.919 --> 00:03:07.400
we? We know that God's ways are different than

00:03:07.400 --> 00:03:12.500
ours, but sometimes, many times, many days, even

00:03:12.500 --> 00:03:17.110
many years, We struggle to accept, to act on,

00:03:17.270 --> 00:03:22.050
to live by, to rest in, to believe these truths.

00:03:22.330 --> 00:03:28.569
It seems too hard, too long, too uncertain. How

00:03:28.569 --> 00:03:33.750
long, Lord, will it ever end? But these truths

00:03:33.750 --> 00:03:38.530
are true. They are reality. And that is what

00:03:38.530 --> 00:03:42.110
we will look at, delve into, listen for just

00:03:42.110 --> 00:03:46.169
for a few moments. God's perspective on time

00:03:46.169 --> 00:03:51.669
for our prodigals, for us, for the kingdom, for

00:03:51.669 --> 00:03:56.469
eternity. One verse has especially sustained

00:03:56.469 --> 00:04:01.860
me over all of these years. Isaiah 60, 22. I

00:04:01.860 --> 00:04:06.020
go to it so often. Isaiah quotes the Lord, says,

00:04:06.180 --> 00:04:11.939
I am the Lord. In its time, I will do this swiftly.

00:04:12.539 --> 00:04:16.459
In its time. Consider what the Lord is saying

00:04:16.459 --> 00:04:19.180
to us through these words to the children of

00:04:19.180 --> 00:04:23.819
Israel just before their return from 70 years

00:04:23.819 --> 00:04:28.319
of captivity. That's a long time, 70 years, more

00:04:28.319 --> 00:04:31.560
than probably we've experienced with our prodigals.

00:04:32.180 --> 00:04:37.480
Again, he says, I am the Lord. And we just need

00:04:37.480 --> 00:04:40.860
to be reminded who God is and what he's like.

00:04:40.959 --> 00:04:44.779
And he knows everything. And we need to remember

00:04:44.779 --> 00:04:49.240
he's the Lord. And we need to recognize what

00:04:49.240 --> 00:04:53.939
he's saying through these sayings. I am God and

00:04:53.939 --> 00:04:57.519
you are not. with several variations of that.

00:04:58.040 --> 00:05:02.079
Sure, I have many good plans, ideas, schedules

00:05:02.079 --> 00:05:05.519
for how things should play for my life and my

00:05:05.519 --> 00:05:09.480
loved one. God reminds me who is in control.

00:05:09.959 --> 00:05:15.240
And then he says, in its time. So I want its

00:05:15.240 --> 00:05:20.879
time to be my time now. And it just isn't. He's

00:05:20.879 --> 00:05:24.759
got other plans. And I, this I, of course, is

00:05:24.759 --> 00:05:30.959
God, not this I, I. I, God says, will do this.

00:05:31.779 --> 00:05:36.300
Let that sink in. He says, I will do this. We

00:05:36.300 --> 00:05:39.759
can't make it happen, but he can and he will.

00:05:39.959 --> 00:05:42.720
And then he says this beautiful word. He says

00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:46.500
swiftly. Now, we know our timing and his are

00:05:46.500 --> 00:05:50.279
not the same, but for him, it's not too long.

00:05:50.889 --> 00:05:56.350
It is swiftly, soon, now, no more waiting. But

00:05:56.350 --> 00:06:00.230
the swiftness is not in my time. It's in God

00:06:00.230 --> 00:06:04.689
-ordained time. Recently, my former prodigal,

00:06:04.709 --> 00:06:07.550
who has really been doing well, had some surgery.

00:06:08.490 --> 00:06:11.870
The surgical wound has been very slow to heal.

00:06:12.089 --> 00:06:14.970
He has not been able to get up and do things

00:06:14.970 --> 00:06:18.410
around their farm. He can't go back to work yet.

00:06:18.850 --> 00:06:23.930
And he's been very frustrated, angry, crabby,

00:06:23.930 --> 00:06:28.410
even depressed. He doesn't like this timing at

00:06:28.410 --> 00:06:33.170
all. So whether it's with a prodigal, a former

00:06:33.170 --> 00:06:38.069
wanderer, or our own impatience, God is still

00:06:38.069 --> 00:06:42.089
the timekeeper. As I have been in the Word, asking

00:06:42.089 --> 00:06:46.050
God what he wants to say to us about time, I

00:06:46.050 --> 00:06:50.589
have looked at days and months and years, today,

00:06:51.050 --> 00:06:55.819
tomorrow, and the waiting. It's so rich. because

00:06:55.819 --> 00:06:59.699
I get to see God in it, and I have a bigger picture

00:06:59.699 --> 00:07:04.180
of who he is and how puny I am compared to him,

00:07:04.300 --> 00:07:10.319
how intentional he is, all in love and with lots

00:07:10.319 --> 00:07:15.240
of grace. Our theme verse in these times that

00:07:15.240 --> 00:07:20.899
are hard for us must be, I am the Lord in its

00:07:20.899 --> 00:07:26.810
time. I will do this swiftly. So be praying with

00:07:26.810 --> 00:07:30.250
me. I'll be praying for you that we will let

00:07:30.250 --> 00:07:35.790
God speak to us, teach us, change us, and prepare

00:07:35.790 --> 00:07:39.889
us to come into his throne room with humility

00:07:39.889 --> 00:07:45.389
and the power and effectiveness that we can ask

00:07:45.389 --> 00:07:48.970
him for to do the things that he can do, will

00:07:48.970 --> 00:07:53.199
do. He says, I will make it happen. and the good

00:07:53.199 --> 00:07:57.939
work that he is doing in our loved ones and in

00:07:57.939 --> 00:08:02.160
us. And I find it's always good to remember that

00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:05.279
as much as I'm here and you're where you are,

00:08:05.379 --> 00:08:08.860
to pray for those that we love who are making

00:08:08.860 --> 00:08:11.480
some not great choices in life or some really

00:08:11.480 --> 00:08:16.379
bad ones, to recognize God is always working.

00:08:17.079 --> 00:08:20.160
He's not abandoning it, even as he's got waiting.

00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:24.740
in our time, it doesn't mean he's quit. It just

00:08:24.740 --> 00:08:28.680
means he's working in ways we can't see. And

00:08:28.680 --> 00:08:33.000
he's working as much in us as he is in our loved

00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:36.720
prodigals. And I find that's always good to remember

00:08:36.720 --> 00:08:40.360
and to stop and say, Lord, so what is for me

00:08:40.360 --> 00:08:44.299
in this besides patience and trusting you? What

00:08:44.299 --> 00:08:48.500
are you trying to say to me in the waiting? And

00:08:48.500 --> 00:08:51.769
so I just encourage you that In its time, and

00:08:51.769 --> 00:08:55.690
in God's perfect time, he will accomplish his

00:08:55.690 --> 00:09:00.190
good purposes, his good plans, and you will see

00:09:00.190 --> 00:09:04.429
the goodness of God, even in your living time

00:09:04.429 --> 00:09:07.789
and not later. Now, I know things don't always

00:09:07.789 --> 00:09:10.750
happen exactly like we think they will, or even

00:09:10.750 --> 00:09:13.789
that we think God will do it, but he says, trust

00:09:13.789 --> 00:09:17.509
me, I'm working. I love your loved one more than

00:09:17.509 --> 00:09:23.279
you do. and I have the exact right time. God

00:09:23.279 --> 00:09:23.740
bless you.