Leonid Padun: "There is a time for everything"
1 July 2012
God works in time
A wise man Solomon once said: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). There is something in our life that we can change without outside help: just plan and do. But also there are things that do not depend on our desires and efforts. There are certain times and deadlines established by God and till the right time comes, nothing happens.
This is God’s style. I have convinced in my own experience that generally God does not do anything quickly. I do not remember such a case when I have prayed in the evening and got the answer at the next morning. We often have to wait more than a day, month or even year.
God acts in time, but if we do not understand God’s principles, we often become disappointed and lose heart. We always want to know everything in advance and get answers instantly! But when God brought Abraham out from Ur of the Chaldeans and promised him the birth of a son, whether Abraham knew that the baby will be born only twenty five years later? Or he was waiting for a child in the first year?
In ancient times, childlessness was a great shame and a problem and getting the word from God, Abraham was gladly willing to go anywhere. Certainly in the first year he made every effort to accelerate the fulfillment of God’s promises. But one year has passed, then second and third… And he still had no children. What did Abraham feel? Of course, he, as well as any of us, was visited by thoughts of frustration and despair. And if God had not consoled him from time to time and confirmed His promise, no one knows know how it all would end…
Time to live by faith
God taught Abraham to walk by faith daily, regardless of the outcome, and to continue to trust His Word. The same lesson He also teaches us today. The time of preparation often depends on the life position God intends to put you on. For seventeen years, David had been running from Saul, and for thirteen long years Joseph wandered away from home. To become “the father of all who believe” Abraham had to wait for twenty-five years!
Time for spiritual growth
Still our character is the most important business God is engaged in time. It would be strange if everything in our life remained the same. But God is doing everything possible for us to become less and less like Satan and more and more like Him.
Certainly changes do not come overnight. Just as we go through time of physical growth there is also a time of spiritual maturity for us to go through. Not always the physical age coincides with the spiritual. You can be a spiritual “Baby” at the age of twenty and forty, and even sixty years old but what is important – not to remain at the same state all your life. There is the right time for every age.
Babies
“I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for His name’s sake” (1st John 2:12).
When a child is born to a family – it is such a joyous event. But at the same time this new baby just turns everything upside down in the house! There is noise, crying, and running around. What are we to do with all of this? Nothing. We do not punish our little children for dirty diapers, as we understand that everything has its time and once the baby has grown up it changes. The time will come when the baby will outgrow diapers and then what was ok for a child would no longer be acceptable for a teenager.
So it is with the spiritual babies. There are certain times when God forgives spiritual immaturity. After the repentance or having been born again when a man or a woman becomes a child of God, his or her present way of life is little different from the former. Many still continue to smoke, drink, and lie. God forgives such people, accepts them and covers with His mercy. It is important that we do the same!
Children
“I am writing to you, children, because you have known the Father” (1st John 2:13).
The time of spiritual adolescence is the time of the knowledge of God as Father. This is the time when God reveals Himself as a loving, caring, blessing God. Knowledge of the Father’s love frees Christians from the stress of feelings of an unsettled debt, judgment and guilt. Christianity is not a “debt pit” into which God wants to through a human to see whether he or she will survive or not?
All normal parents want their children to be happy. God is the best of all fathers, Who is willing to free His children from the slavery of sin and dead religion, to make them joyful and happy, as it is written: “And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free” (John 8: 32).
Young men
“I wrote to you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one” (1 John 2:14).
Young age is a wonderful time when we are able to accomplish great things and there seems to be nothing impossible for us. Youth is the time of victory! Once the fire of God is burning inside, any problem is only a challenge to win a battle.
This is a good attitude for believers. Jesus Christ came to destroy the works of the devil, and we are called to do the same. God is not a pacifist. One of His names is the Lord of Hosts, the God of war, fighting for his people.
The ministry of Jesus Christ on this earth was a blast of God’s power, joy and emotions. He revealed the true meaning of the Life of victory!
Fathers
“I wrote to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning” (1 John 2:14).
The last period of spiritual age is the time of maturity; this is the culmination of Christian life. This is the time when a person begins his journey on the road of the eternal knowledge of God in all His fullness.
“And each of the four living creatures had six wings about him, but inside they are full of eyes, and neither day nor night they rest, saying: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come. And when those creatures give glory and honor and thanksgiving to Him who sits on the throne, who liveth forever and ever, The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to accept glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created” (Revelation 4 :8-11).
For many all described here is a mystery. What kind of condition is this “day or night no rest?” Who are these old men, because, as you know, there is no age or older people in Heaven?
These are spiritually mature people. They are not forced to worship God – they understand Him without words. They are so filled with excitement and admiration that simply cannot do otherwise! Falling on their faces before God, they take off their crowns, thus showing that in the light of God’s glory everything else loses its value.
It is useless to try to explain to babies what actually delights, enthralls mature people. How can you explain to a child, what is the real pleasure and enjoyment?
Before His suffering Jesus prayed: “And this is eternal life, that they may know You the Only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3).
There is the right time for everything. Sooner or later our earthly life is over and we move on into eternity. What awaits us there?
Eternal life – is not only golden streets and luxurious villas, of which people dream based on their human notions. All of this is there indeed, but this is not the point. When we are thirsty, we pay little attention to the glass, but enjoy the water which is in it.
One can get used to certain forms and traditions, go to a church meeting once a week as a routine, consider the “glass”, and believe that this is all that God has. But you can reach forward beyond the times of infancy, adolescence, youth, and enter into the fullness of spiritual maturity – the knowledge of the One Who is from the beginning, the Infinite One who exists from everlasting to everlasting, and who looks at everything with the eyes of Eternity.
