God Built by Steve Farrar

Author:Steve Farrar
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Religion, Men's Issues, Christian Life, Men of God
ISBN: 9781434765826
Publisher: David C Cook
Published: 2010-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

Demoted and Benched

He Is in Control …

Over Prolonged Waiting

“I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait,

And in His word do I hope.”

—Psalm 130:5

Albert Einstein may have been a true genius, but like all graduate students, it still took him years of work to complete his doctor’s dissertation. It was a great day for Einstein when he finally presented his paper, his dissertation for a PhD in physics, to his professor.

Several weeks later, he received the document back with a note. His dissertation had been rejected. The professor felt that the paper was too short.

It was a great disappointment to Einstein. A rejected dissertation could mean another year or two of plodding work. It would mean that he would have to wait for the degree, and then wait for the teaching jobs that required the degree.

There had to be a way around the waiting.

It was then that Einstein got his idea. He sat down and reread the entire dissertation. He then made one addition—but not another chapter and not another paragraph. In fact, he added one sentence to the paper, and turned it in once again.

It was promptly accepted, and Einstein somehow managed to avoid the long wait. Leave it to a genius to figure that out. But it usually doesn’t work quite that well for the rest of us, with IQs below 180.

Waiting is like eating gravel. Nobody in their right mind wants to do it.

Why is that?

It’s because none of us likes to wait—for anything.

Joseph had been thrown in jail on false charges. And now he was forced to wait. How long would it be before he was released—if at all? He had absolutely no idea. We know from the biblical account that Joseph was in the dungeon for two years, but he didn’t know that. For all he knew, the years would grind on and on and he would die there.

When you’re waiting in an Egyptian jail or in a prison of hard circumstances, there’s not much you can do. And the longer you wait, the more discouraged you become.

Why doesn’t God do something miraculous and instantly change our situations when we are waiting? I like the insight of Robert J. Morgan:

“Though miracles still occur, God uses them sparingly. Even in Scripture, miracles were not God’s standard operating procedure. Many people assume the Bible is packed with miracles, but it isn’t. Only during certain periods in biblical history were there clusterings of signs and wonders—during the Exodus, during the ministries of Elijah and Elisha, during the life of Christ and the early days of the apostles.

“Throughout most of the Bible, God helped His people in ordinary, providential ways rather than in overtly supernatural ones. The same is true today. That’s why mature Christians pay special attention to the accidents, misfortunes, and coincidences that befall them. For in reality, there are no such things. Only the providential ordering of God who watches over His prayerful, trusting children, and whose unseen hand is guiding, guarding, arranging, and rearranging circumstances.

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