I
believe that the most common mistake we make in
understanding God's will is this: We get a right
idea about what he wants us to do, but we miss
his timing in carrying it out.
Sometimes we run behind the Lord.
In Jesus' time people were often surprised by his
sense of urgency in responding to needs. What
bothered the Pharisees most was not that he
healed, but that he healed on the Sabbath. If he
had waited just one more day to heal the man with
the withered hand, they wouldn't have complained
(Mk 3:1-6). Instead, Jesus' ministry reflected
the prompt compassion urged by Proverbs 3:27-28:
"Do not withhold good . . . when it is in
your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor,
'Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give
it'--when you have it with you."
It is easy for me to get so
preoccupied with preparations for ministry that I
miss spontaneous opportunities that come along. I
recall the time when I was working on a talk on
the importance of spending time with your family,
when Ben (in elementary school then) knocked on
the door and announced with great sobs that his
school bus had never arrived. My instinctive
response was frustration that my valuable study
time had been interrupted. The intrusion,
however, became an opportunity to put philosophy
into action. While driving Ben to school, I
assured him that he had been smart to come back
home quickly. I was able to give him some
positive attention that he otherwise wouldn't
have received that day.
Of course, God not only uses
interruptions to open opportunities for us to
help others, but to meet needs in our own life as
well. Recently a friend who was going through a
personal crisis asked to talk with me. It was a
hectic week, and to me, the timing was horrible
(why can't friends schedule their crises for
times when I'm not so busy?). Yet there was no
question about my needing to make myself
available to my friend, and we had a long talk.
At one point he shared an insight which I quickly
realized was the perfect pivotal thought for a
talk that I had to prepare. It ended up being a
win-win situation: my friend was encouraged by
our chat, and the burden of preparing a
challenging talk was lightened for me.
Much of Jesus' ministry was a
sanctified response to interruptions. Take a
typical day: After teaching a large crowd for a
long time, he breaks for time alone, only to have
his disciples ask him to explain his parables (Mk
4:10). That evening, while traveling in a boat,
they awake him to deal with an unruly storm (Mk
4:38), and when they arrive at the other side of
the lake, Jesus is confronted by a man with
multiple demons (Mk 5:1-13). In each of these
cases, Jesus responds immediately to those who
need his help.
Many opportunities, both for
serving Christ and for experiencing his provision
for our own needs, come packaged in unwelcome
interruptions. We need to pray constantly for
alertness to these openings when they confront
us. Without such awareness, we're likely to lag
behind God's timing.
Education Motivation
We face, though, an equal danger
of running ahead of the Lord. Not only did Jesus
respond to needs rapidly, but he also set aside
generous time for preparation. He prepared thirty
years to minister only three. If he had entered
his public ministry at age twenty or twenty-five,
he might have saved and healed many more people
than he did. Yet he put the emphasis upon quality
of ministry over quantity, and refused to rush
the preparation involved.
He limited the scope of his
ministry as well. As a friend aptly put it, Jesus
could have established a Torah study center or
set up a home for prodigal sons. Yet God had
called him to take certain unique directions with
his life. Other tasks were to be left for his
followers to accomplish (Jn 14:12).
As we undertake an education, we
should keep in mind that we will almost certainly
go through times when we feel unproductive. The
more God's Spirit touches us with compassion for
a hurting world, the more we may feel that our
time in preparation is preventing us from helping
people who have needs which can't wait. I went
through several dry periods during college and
seminary when I felt that the process was taking
much too long. I felt guilty for not being out on
the front lines using my gifts, and fearful that
opportunities would disappear once I graduated. I
had to remind myself frequently that I, as one
person, can only do so much, and that God calls
me to excellence in what I do. This means
trusting God to take care of needs to which I
cannot personally attend. And it means trusting
him to open doors for service once he's done
preparing me.
A Gift in Season
We find an intriguing example of
the stunning perfection of God's timing in 2
Kings 8:1-6. The prophet Elisha counsels a
Shunammite woman, whose son he had restored to
life, to leave her country in order to avoid a
seven-year famine. She obeys and sojourns in
Philistia. When she returns, she goes to petition
the king to return her land. At the very moment
she arrives at the palace, Elisha's servant is
telling the king about the woman's son being
raised from the dead. The king is so impressed
with the coincidence, that he appoints an
official to restore the woman's property to her,
along with its produce during her years of
absence.
If the woman, out of concern for
her property, had cut her sojourn short, she
might have found circumstances less favorable to
reclaiming it. Staying away for the full term
Elisha recommended put her in the best position
to regain her property once she returned. In the
same way, we may trust that if God leads us into
an educational sojourn, he will arrange
circumstances afterward so that we'll find the
best opportunities for using our gifts and making
use of the training we've received.
Different Seasons in Our Life
From Jesus, the woman of Shunem
and numerous biblical examples, we learn that
there are different seasons in the Christian's
life. There are times when God calls us to be
active, and times when he calls us to pull back
and prepare. But even during our
preparation-intensive periods, plenty of
opportunities will arise to help meet unexpected
needs of others. We must not close our heart. At
the same time we shouldn't feel guilty that the
thrust of our life is preparation. We should feel
great freedom to plan our lifestyle so that we
have the time necessary for study, personal
commitments--and interruptions.
The Personality Factor
One further point deserves
mention. Each us has certain inclinations in our
personality which can work for us or against us
in helping us to keep pace with the Lord.
Introverts are often comfortable pulling away
from activity and people, and investing
significant time in preparation. Yet they may
overdo this part, and never reach the point where
they feel completely ready to take the steps for
which they've been preparing.
Extroverts, on the other hand,
are more likely to short-cut preparation and to
forge ahead with a major life-move too quickly.
The important matter for each of
us is to understand our own temperament, and to
make some compensation for it as we consider
God's timing in our life. We who are introverted,
and especially those of us who are shy, may
benefit by pushing ourselves to take steps before
we feel fully prepared--to "feel the fear
and do it anyway." Of course, I'm not
suggesting that we should bypass important
preparation, but simply that we not carry it to
an unreasonable extreme.
Those of us who are extroverted,
will benefit by throttling some of our need for
people and activity, and giving devoted attention
to education and developing our inner life. To be
sure, we should take our extroversion strongly
into account in weighing God's direction for our
life. As much as possible, we should choose
options that allow us to reflect the outgoing
personality God has given us. But we should also
recognize how our temperament may incline us to
run ahead of God's timing, and make some
allowance for that.
In Christ we each can achieve the
balance that is right for our life, in light of
the gifts and personality he has given us. We
should pray daily that Christ will help us to
order our life in the way that best enables us to
realize our potential for him.
|
