“But these things I plan won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed” (Habakkuk 2:3 NLT).
Ever wonder how the human invention of the clock has affected us? God’s creation gave us a broad sense of time, with the sun, moon, and heavens moving like large hands on a celestial clock. But these were days and nights, months and seasons, not minutes and seconds. God gave us time, but we invented the clock.
I suppose the clock seduces us into thinking that we have more time because we can subdivide it into smaller and smaller segments. We get the idea that we can “manage” our minutes and “budget” our time for maximum effectiveness. However, this subdivision of time into micro-second intervals doesn’t add one moment to our lives. It only slices it into smaller slivers.
In today’s One Year Bible reading, Jeremiah was asked for a word from the Lord by a remnant of the Jews that were planning to escape to Egypt.
The Scripture says, “Ten days later the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah” (Jeremiah 42:7 NIV).
Ten days! Not ten hours, not ten minutes, not ten seconds, but ten days later God answered Jeremiah’s prayer for wisdom. We see this ten day pattern again in the book of Acts when the disciples waited and prayed in an upper room after Christ’s ascension. On the tenth day the Holy Spirit fell on them and empowered them to carry out Christ’s commission.
Ten days of waiting patiently on God to speak? Hmmm… let me check my schedule. No. Sorry. I don’t have the time. I’m on the clock, you know.
Wow, this is a perfect example of patience. Ten days is a very long time to wait for a response, but God honors patience. I needed to hear this today.
“God gave us time, but we invented the clock” demostrates that we too often ask God to work on our schedule. I work in a career were time is literally measured by the second. Too often, I gave God the same attention span. “Lord, you have thirty seconds to sell me. Go!” Ironically, I now have a wife and two kids. My clock on the mantle and calendar on the wall show that I have even less “free” time than just 5 years ago. But over time, God has shown me that my success arrives when I work on His schedule. I have defintley grown more patient when it comes to waiting on God. He has never failed me.