God's Time vs. Our Time

God's Time vs. Our Time
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November 1, 2009

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us (Romans 8:18).

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory (2 Corinthians 4:17).

I probably do not need to ask you if you are currently having any difficulty in your life. The obvious answer to this would be “yes.” About the time we seem to overcome a family problem, another problem breaks out in the area of our finances, our health or in our job situation. Being blessed in all areas of our life at the same time seems like a rare occurrence.

One question that seems to dominate our time with the Lord is “How long, O Lord?” A few months, or worse, a few years on this earth can seem like a lifetime as we rehearse over and over in our mind how long we have had to battle the same health problem. About the time we think the heart condition in our body is being corrected, another report from the doctor seems to confirm the opposite. Our prayer requests before our friends and church usually includes the report, “This condition has been a problem for years and I have been waiting for healing to manifest all these years.”

GOD’S VIEWPOINT

Our verse from 2 Corinthians 4:17 tells us we need to look at time from another viewpoint, God’s. What is a long time in our sight is just a short time in God’s. God lives in a realm where time does not exist. For Him, a few years is just one tick of the second hand on a clock. However, God also lives in the realm of eternity. He has no beginning and He has no ending. If God can clearly see the past few million or billion years, what is your five-year financial history in His eyes? Instead of trying to get God to understand your point of view, try to examine time and your problems through His point of view.

Paul tells us for every problem we overcome in life there is a reward in heaven. He calls our problems sufferings and our rewards glory. He says our sufferings cannot even be compared to the glory which will be revealed in us when we arrive in heaven. Our problems are temporary and our rewards are eternal. How can anything temporary be compared to something eternal? Our problems are only for this present time and will be destroyed at our death or the Second Coming of the Lord. Our rewards, which we will receive for our faithfulness to the Lord, will last forever. At that time, who will care if health issues lasted five or ten years? We will not care if our financial problems did not seem to end after the first or second prayer. In the overall scheme of things, our problems in life were but for a moment.Paul also told us our problems in life are a light affliction and our rewards are an eternal weight of glory. How do you compare the weight of a feather with that of a bowling ball? As we come into heaven at our death or at the rapture of the Church, we will trade our weight of problems (a feather) for an eternal reward from God (bowling ball).

FIGHTING FOR US

Finally, the best news of all is when we as believers live for the Lord and walk by faith in God’s Word, our problems work for us and not against us. Our problems actually begin to work right now in this life to produce the eternal weight of God’s glorious reward in heaven. Paul said it this way in Romans 8:28: …all things (good or bad) work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Get this picture in your mind of your present problems. You are in a battle fighting an enemy from one foxhole to another. Suddenly, the enemy stands up with a white flag and approaches your foxhole to inform you they want to join you in fighting. The believer who walks in faith with God can actually see his problems work for him and fight with him in this life producing an eternal reward in heaven. Whether you are in adversity or not, you cannot lose with God’s plan!

Precepts

This month our CD offer is Unclench Your Fist (VL2302). To order, call 1-800-284-0595. We hope you will take advantage of this powerful message. Your faithfulness in giving is a blessing to the lives of many around the world we reach through our internet outreaches at Bob Yandian Ministries. You may never meet the people your money has allowed us to reach for God’s kingdom until we are in heaven, but know you are eternally changing lives!

Thank you for your faithful support,

Bob Yandian

PS–If you want to learn about why some things take time in the Christian life, we are offering Bob Yandian’s CD series What’s the Hold Up? (CDVL21), which is also available on MP3.