What a way to start my study this morning.

“⁶For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” – Romans 5:6 (ESV)

When I looked into this verse, I found many things starting with “we were still weak”. I understand weak to mean feeble and the opposite of strong, but here we are looking at the fact that we had no way of helping ourselves (and still do not). At the time of Christ’s death, we were in dire need of help. We were completely lost.

Secondly, I found that “Christ died for the ungodly”. Not for the righteous or even the good, but for the sinners of the world.

“⁷For on will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—⁸but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:7-8 (ESV)

And thirdly, Christ died “at the right time”. Not arbitrarily, not when convenient, not just because He was there (at that time), but purposefully “at the right time”. When we needed Him most.

We are sinners, no doubt. We are in dire need of a savior, for sure. The good thing is that Christ came and provided the safety and security we needed, already. We have a God that cared enough for us in this time that His son died “at the right time”. We are not righteous, and are not even good, but Christ died for us anyway.

When you think of your time, are you able to thank God for allowing Christ to die? Are you aware even that you are a sinner and don’t deserve the love that God has poured out? Are you able to look at Christ’s death as happening “at the right time” for us?

How many of us have heard that proverb: “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”? We need time away from work in order to spice it up a bit. I admit that I do not spend enough time in the arena of fun. But, this morning I am referring to the opposite. It appears to me that by and large, we as a society lack a certain seriousness that is getting in the way of our relationship with God.

“¹¹Ephraim was a trained calf that loved to thresh, and I spared her fair neck; but I will put Ephraim to the yoke; Judah must plow; Jacob must harrow for himself. ¹²Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.” – Hosea 10:11-112 (ESV)

God allows us to play, and enjoy. But it is when that is our only focus that things have gotten out of hand. We have to come back to the purpose God has for us. We have work to do. We are to prepare, and have we truly done that. Have we done the work of the farmer and plowed the fields to receive the seeds? Have we planted the seeds for God? Have we been watering those seeds with the Word of God? Have we fertilized the seeds with nourishment of God’s Love? Have we shined the light of Christ on the fields?

You see, we may feel like we have done the job, but have we really gotten to work, or are we simply pretending so that we can go play more. We will have to get back to work in the fields at some point, and that time is now. The fields are hard and filled with rocks. We have to work hard to get back to God’s plan.

Are you aware of the work that needs to be done? Have you been avoiding the field work in the interest of having fun? Are you prepared to get back to work? The time to work is now, are you aware?

The title of this study is a bit ambiguous I know. And even while I read and study, it remains to be.

“¹¹He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end…¹⁴I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor nothing taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. ¹⁵That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.” – Ecclesiastes 3:11, 14-15 (ESV)

But shouldn’t things be a bit ambiguous? In the world of business that I work in, without goals, it is difficult to be sure that we are accomplishing things. It is important to know where you are going, and more importantly, how you are going to get there.

With God, I admit to having a hard time knowing and accomplishing things when I am not privy to the full plan and find myself waiting to be instructed of what to do. How can I help if I don’t know where or how?

You know, maybe that is the point. God does not want us focusing on “the task”. He wants us focused on His work. We are to be doing His work at all times and when a specific task comes up, I presume we are to just be ready to jump into action.

I have to relax and just take things as God brings them. Continue to press on doing God’s work and when he has a specific task for me, he will reveal it and I have to be ready to leap into action.

What about you? Have you been approaching God’s work as though you have a task to do? Are you looking to check things off the service list? Will you allow God to just reveal in His time?

God’s Timing is perfect.

What does that mean for me and how I approach daily life?

“¹For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:” – Ecclesiastes 3:1 (ESV)

I am not very fond of this verse as I have been in one of those seasons that are not a lot of fun. I have been wondering why, and I will admit that I have begun to wonder, what is God’s purpose for allowing me to be here?

This morning I have gotten some help, as God led me to this passage. In the commentary from my NIV Bible: “The danger is to doubt or resent God’s timing. This can lead to despair, rebellion, or moving ahead without his advice.”

I cannot give up or blame God for being here. I have to continue to press on knowing that he will reveal his plan when the right “season” is there for me. As the commentary in my NIV Bible indicated: the problems I have before me “should not be barriers to believing in him, but rather opportunities to discover that, without God, life’s problems have no lasting solutions!”

I am here because God wants me to be to learn something or perform something for Him. It is not fun to be here, but God never promised fun and greatness in the journey, on as a reward for doing His work.

What season are you in? Are you able to see that there is a season for everything that God has for you? Are you able to know and embrace God’s perfect timing for everything?

I struggle with God’s timing. I know that God will deliver us in His time according to His plan. Where I struggle is that I continue to look for His deliverance and in my perception it does not come.

I want to be clear in that I do not believe that God has abandoned me, nor do I think that He is punishing me for something that I may or may not be aware. What I do believe is that I am simply not seeing Him and that is causing me to struggle.

“⁷The Lord will keep you from all evil;

he will keep your life.

⁸The Lord will keep

your going out and your coming in

from this time forth and forevermore.” – Psalm 121:7-8 (ESV)

As I read this passage this morning, I was reminded that God is watching over us and “keeping” us. Protecting us. Whether I am “seeing” Him is not the important part, because He is there and I have to know it.

The structure of the verses are also something to look at. I have quoted from the English Standard Version (ESV) although I also study using the New International Version (NIV). Notice the ESV structure and where the breaks are. This gives me more than say just the words. Verse 7 gives us what God will keep, and verse 8 indicates “The Lord will keep”. So no matter the situation, or the “time” God will keep me and “keep” all together. What a comfort and certainly something I can and should continue to remember as I struggle with “simply seeing” the Lord work and “keep” me.

Are you struggling to “simply see” God? What about recognizing that He is working? Will you know and take comfort in the Lord’s keeping you, all the time?

When is it that we reach out to God?

“⁶Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him.” – Psalm 32:6 (ESV)

What is “at a time”? I believe that refers to always. God is always there for us. He may not always answer, but He is always hearing and accepting our prayer.

Why is it that we reach out to God?

“⁷You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.” – Psalm 32:7 (ESV)

God is our refuge. Arms to jump in like a child. Hide our face in to get away. Place to go when there is no other.

I know that I expect great things from God. I look for the overt signs of “deliverance” and struggle when I can’t see them. I search for the way out and miss the opportunity to just “hide” with God.

There is always time to reach out to God. He is always there to listen and take us through whatever we are dealing with. We come to Him in times of prosperity and in times of deficiency. We come to Him as our place of comfort.

Have you forgotten that God is there to listen? Are you expecting expeditious answers to your questions? Are you remembering that it is always time to come to God?

I have been on a journey over the last few years searching to understand my Kingdom Purpose and to this point, I am still searching and feel as though I will be searching for a while longer.

But, what if my time is now?

“¹³Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, ‘Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. ¹⁴For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?’” – Esther 4:13-14 (ESV)

Esther was in a position to do something and her reluctance was evident. Mordecai challenged her to take a look at her position and the opportunity she had to decide whether or not to act. He tells her that it is indeed her choice to either be a part of the solution or perish with the rest as she sits idle.

Am I not in a similar situation? Maybe not to the certain gravity of the destruction of my people, but I have a choice to be active as opposed to passively allowing indecision.

I still search for my Kingdom Purpose, but I will admit that maybe I have been a bit passive. I may have been letting things take over me as opposed to taking a stand and “fighting” for my position. Maybe my time is now to make a decision to get in the game or sit on the sidelines.

What have you been avoiding that you would maybe be better served to act now? What if your time to take a stand is now? God has a purpose for you, what if that time is now?

How often have you found yourself in a verbal standoff about a subject or topic and that standoff leads to an argument that never ends?

Is it really worth it?

“³It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife, but every fool will be quarreling.” – Proverbs 20:3 (ESV)

Well according to God’s Word, NOPE! We find ourselves in situations that are less than optimal for us to be in as Christians and the direction we have from God is to simply walk away.

“Keep aloof” or “avoid” here looks to mean stay away from those situations where we have nothing to gain. We have more important things to worry about than involving ourselves in matters that are trivial. When we are seen “acting out”, it is perceived by those that witness that we are a certain way. I would rather be seen as someone who walked away from something than in a negative light.

I think of “fights” that happen in school, on the playground, in the sporting event. We generally do not see who started things, but we certainly see who finishes them. The one that retaliates is the one that gets caught. Whether the second person was defending themselves or not, they are the one that is held accountable due to their overt retaliation.

Wouldn’t it make sense then to just walk away? What is gained by fighting back? What more honor is there in avoiding the strife?

I am a man of means. I have the ability to help myself and do things to improve the way of life for my family.

“²⁵The Lord tears down the house of the proud but maintains the widow’s boundaries.” – Proverbs 15:25 (ESV)

I have pride in having the ability to help myself. God is not interested in whether or not I can help myself. I should be reaching to him for help and care just as the widow. She is in a position where she must rely on others for help with things; protection and care.

Shouldn’t we all be in that position with God? He is our ultimate protection and caregiver. We should be reaching out to Him when we find ourselves in need. Yes, I still have the ability to care for and protect myself and my family, however I should not be relying on myself and should instead be allowing God to do His part and I should be simply following His lead and yield to His teachings and control.

“³³The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor.” – Proverbs 15:33 (ESV)

We may have means to take care of things, however it is not up to us to take into our own hands. By thinking and working as though we are in control, we are dishonoring God by “running the show” and not allowing Him to work. Shouldn’t we be in a position of humility to allow God to give us direction and provide for our needs?

Think of the widow from above. She needs assistance with certain things and by humbly approaching God, He provides the necessary resources for that assistance. Whether it is in the form of finances to pay for assistance, or friends and family that may come to her aid, or maybe a church family that comes by on a regular basis to simply love her and provide encouragement and fellowship. God takes care of all of her needs.

Why wouldn’t we have the same approach? We should be humble before God allowing Him to do His work in our lives and the lives of others. Isn’t that the greatest honor we can give, allow someone, in this case God, to do the work they are to do and help those in need?

Will you allow God to do his work? Will you humble yourself before God and trust in His ability to provide for your needs? Will you honor God as those little in means?

I was recently speaking with a colleague at the office and we were discussing finances and they mentioned to me about taking rent money immediately from their pay to be sure that was paid above all else. As I read this morning of honoring God, I was brought back to this discussion to apply the same principle to my giving to God.

“⁹Honor the Lord with you wealth and with the firstfruits of all you produce; ¹⁰then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.” – Proverbs 3:9-10 (ESV)

How often do we find ourselves scrambling to cover a financial need in our lives because we have nothing left after “feeding” our desires? I know that I have gotten myself into that position and then wondering why I did not have enough to cover what needed to be covered.

God provides everything we need and it is up to us to give to Him first. Like my colleague, shouldn’t we take out God’s portion first?

Look to verse 10 above and follow along with me. The first thing I see is that the verse implies that we should give to God first so that He will give us more, and that makes sense as God will provide.

But, we have to look closer at our heart as we give. Are we giving for selfish gain; i.e. to get something more? We honor God by giving to Him first! What He gives us in return may or may not be simply stores of tangible items to fill the coffers. Remember the first miracle of Jesus, turning water into wine. The blessing that was poured out was timed perfectly. And what did Jesus do, the wine was better than what was served to begin.

We find ourselves in difficult positions when it comes to honoring God. As man, we know that we have needs and we have to do the work to meet those needs. We also have to remember that God will provide for those needs. When we honor God first, He will provide for our needs when the time is right, and when that time is right He will give back more than we could have expected.

Are you honoring God with your “firstfruits”? What about your heart, where is your heart in the giving process? Are you willingly and purposefully giving to God first?