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A Divine Hurry

/ pastorpete51 / 6 Comments 
Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Matthew 14:31 ESV

We hear a lot of messages urging us to take things slowly, think them through and to wait on the Lord. “Wait on the Lord and He will renew your strength” People say, “Calm down. – Take it easy. – Just rest a while.” But I suggest that the waiting that the Lord has in mind is not a lackadaisical, let’s take it slow, attitude towards life. If we read on in that verse from Isaiah, the very first action it tells us to take is that we should, “Run and not be weary!” That got me to check out how Jesus “waited on the Lord” in His life and ministry.

Here are just a few examples:

And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” 
And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
Matthew 8:3

Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.
Matthew 14:3

 And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching.
Mark 1:21

 And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, 
immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” Mark 5:30

Though we comfort ourselves with the thought that God the Father is never in a hurry, it is amazing to see that Jesus often was. He knew His time on earth was brief. Every second, each word and individual miracle performed, and healing given was done in what appears to be a divine hurry.

Photo by Nita on Pexels.com

But Divine hurry is not Divine panic. Jesus never worried that He might miss out on an opportunity. Rather the immediacy or even abruptness of Jesus actions (remember the overturning of the money changers tables) is more like the hurrying of the wind as it drives a ship across the water or the strike of a lightning bolt. God’s hurry is determined, steadfast and targeted. When we allow the divine hurry into our hearts it will motivate us to go rush to the side a friend at a car accident, grab our wife’s hand and pray for God to ease her pain after surgery or give generously without a second thought to a couple whose house has burned down. While fear motivates panic, a Divine hurry springs from an even greater force – the urgency and power of the love of Jesus. That love prayed in the garden, till His sweat fell like drops of blood. The love of Christ tossed aside caution and forbid Peter from using a sword in His defense. That same divine hurry must also be allowed to blow through our souls, like the mighty rushing wind of the day of Pentecost. When God arises, His enemies are scattered, sins are pardoned, shadows flee. away and we pray, “Come quickly Amen. Even so come Lord Jesus!” Revelation 22:20 KJV

Getting Ready

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments 
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Colossians 4:2 NIV

Eighty-one years ago, no one was ready for change, least of all, eleven-year-old Diane. That Sunday morning, she was just slowly waking up. She snuggled down under the blankets quietly thinking of how wonderful it was that her father’s job with the Navy had moved them all the way from Connecticut to Hawaii. The temperature the day before had been in the upper 70’s, and compared to snowy New England, that felt like heaven! Just then she heard the sound of a plane flying strangely low over their house, and she sat up and looking out the window caught a glimpse of a plane as it turned towards the harbor and noticed a bright red circle painted on its wings. Next the phone began ringing, and she heard the door to her parent’s room creak open and her dad’s footsteps padding into the kitchen to answer. Diane slipped out of bed and tip-toed to her doorway, just in time to see daddy running back into the bedroom and hear her mom yelling for her and her older brother Don to wake up. Then from the direction of the harbor, came the sound of explosions, such as she had never heard before. Suddenly everything she knew was turned upside down. My grandfather, who was the captain of one of the destroyers which were not damaged, went out to sea and my grandmother with mom and her two brothers moved back to Connecticut and the world was changed forever!

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On this first week of 2023 we are no more ready for what lies ahead than Diane (who was my mom) and her family were on December 7th, 1941. Not even the United States Navy knew that 360 Japanese planes were coming to attack our fleet as it sat at anchor that morning. We can never know what challenges, disasters, or difficulties await us this year. What we can do is pray. Prayer means more than simply sitting up in bed to look out the window. Prayer man’s the anti-aircraft guns at the entrance to the harbor of our souls. Prayer means, watching God’s spiritual radar for enemy infiltrations of our airspace and helping our loved ones to a place of safety when we are under attack. Prayer means staying spiritually awake, but not fearfully huddled in a corner, flinching at every sound. We must devote ourselves to prayer in the same way the U. S. Navy did when it repaired its ships, recruited and trained thousands of seamen and went on to win the war. With God in charge at our spiritual Naval headquarters, we can trust that He knows the plans He has for us, and we can be thankful that He will be with us through the dangers and lead us to victory no matter what lies ahead!