Re-Post - At God's Pace

This is a re-post from last year about this same time.
Enjoy.

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"In God's place, at God's pace, by future Grace."

The above title was written by John Piper in his book, "Battling Unbelief."
Those 9 words have stuck with me for awhile. Behind these 9 words I see the words: trust, patience, and letting go.

Trust.
The word "trust" occurs 202 times in the Bible, give or take a few depending on what version you read.
It would seem that trust may be rather important.
When we really stop and look around, we see that much of life is about trust.

Examples...
The only reason that Abraham was willing to lay his son down was because of trust.
Noah build the ark because he trusted God.
The disciples preached the gospel because they trusted God, and they trusted that His promises were sure.
Martyers throughout history have refused to deny Christ because they trust in the reality of Jesus.

Bad examples...
Jonah was eaten by a whale because he didn't trust God.
Lot's wife looked back at Sodom and was turned into a pillar of salt because she didn't trust.
The Israelites grumbled in the desert because they didn't trust God.

Also, it is only when we FULLY trust Jesus with our WHOLE heart that we find TRUE and REAL JOY. Romans 15:13 - "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." We are filled with all joy and peace AS we trust, never before we trust.

Trust is ultimately, surrender.
It's saying, "God, you must do this, I can't do this."
It's taking ourselves off of the throne, and placing God back in His rightful place.
In America especially, we really don't understand the meaning of trust. We don't have to, unless we are intentional about it.
Without much effort we are provided with our daily necessities. If we have a lot going on, we may have to trust God for help on a test. If a person comes across our path that we don't like very much, instead of learning patience by interacting with this person, we simply move on with our lives.
I never have to really trust God for my daily bread...for a warm bed, for water or food, for the basic necessities.
But sometimes, God sends things into our life that force us to trust, that force us to wait, that force us to let go, that force us to learn patience...and He does this because those things are absolutely vital. They are things that we must learn, or we will never truly live as God intends for us to live.

Do we get this? Do we really understand that we cannot live Biblically until we learn to trust? We will never be able to experience real relationship with Christ until we can accept anything from His loving hands as GOOD.

It is amazing the freedom and the rest that comes from fully trusting.
It takes all of the pressure off.
It's placing everything back into the hands of the One who made the world.
It brings real joy and real peace.
Oh, but it's hard to do.
It's real hard.
It's hard to do because my heart is deeply flawed by sin
it's hard to do because I am a selfish creature and I need to be continually changed by God
it's hard because I seize control back from God because I think I know better
it's hard because...well...I make it hard. I kick and scream when God is trying to teach me patience, but I will never win.
God's arms are too long to box with, I might as well stop trying and give in.
I am really immature when it comes to life sometimes.
Life really isn't all that complicated.
It's trust. But sometimes I just don't get that.
It's as plain and simple as that, sometimes I just don't get it.
I kick and scream and I want my own way.
And God just kinda looks down and smiles and He must laugh at all of my striving, and He lets me kick and scream some more and then, finally I get tired. Finally I come to my senses and give in. I say, "ok God, all of this striving has led up to this vital moment...You must do this, I cannot do this."

"In God’s place" - Certain things will happen in life, they are all planned out. They are sure...but they are In God's place.
"At God’s pace" - The things are planned and sure, but they will happen in HIS time and NOT MINE.
"By future grace" - God has been faithful to provide grace for every step of the journey so far, and He will continue to provide it in the future.

"Impatience is a form of unbelief. Its what we feel when we start to doubt the wisdom of God’s timing or the goodness of God’s guidance. …The opposite of impatience is not a glib denial of loss. It’s a deepening, ripening, peaceful willingness to wait for God in the unplanned place of obedience, and to walk with God at the unplanned pace of obedience – to wait in his place and go at his pace.
Patience demands tremendous inner strength." - Piper

"The strength of patience hangs on our capacity to believe that God is up to something good for us in all our delays and detours." - Piper

"A legend says that Moses once sat near a well in meditation. A wayfarer stopped to drink from the well and when he did so his purse fell from his girdle into the sand. The man departed. Shortly afterwards another man passed near the well, saw the purse and picked it up. Later a third man stopped to assuage his thirst and went to sleep in the shadow of the well. Meanwhile, the first man had discovered that his purse was missing and assuming that he must have lost it at the well, returned, awoke the sleeper (who of course knew nothing) and demanded his money back. An argument followed, and irate, the first man slew the latter. Where upon Moses said to God “You see, therefore men do not believe you. There is too much evil and injustice in the world. Why should the first man have lost his purse and then become a murderer? Why should the second have gotten a purse full of gold without having worked for it? The third was completely innocent. Why was he slain?” God answered “For once and only once, I will give you an explanation. I cannot do it at every step. The first man was a thief’s son. The purse contained money stolen by his father from the father of the second man, who finding the purse only found what was due him. The third was a murderer who crime had never been revealed and who received from the first the punishment he deserved. In the future believe that there is sense and righteousness in what transpires even when you do not understand." - Piper

"When delays and detours and frustrations and opposition ruin our plans and bode ill for us, faith in future grace lays hold on the sovereign purpose of God to bring something magnificent to pass. This is the key to patience." - Piper

Lamentations 3
21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:

22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.

23 They are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness.

24 I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for Him."

25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in Him,
to the one who seeks Him;

26 it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.

27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.

28 Let him sit alone in silence,
for the LORD has laid it on him.

29 Let him bury his face in the dust—
there may yet be hope.

31 For men are not cast off
by the Lord forever.

32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
so great is his unfailing love.

37 Who can speak and have it happen
if the Lord has not decreed it?

38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that both calamities and good things come?

39 Why should any living man complain
when punished for his sins?

40 Let us examine our ways and test them,
and let us return to the LORD.

55 I called on your name, O LORD,
from the depths of the pit.

56 You heard my plea: "Do not close your ears
to my cry for relief."

57 You came near when I called you,
and you said, "Do not fear."

I will not fear because God is near.

The LORD is good to those who wait for him. Lamentations 3:25

Patience is vitally necessary.
Trust is vitally necessary.
Rest is vitally necessary.

Trust is:
Trust is believing that God's ways are right even when they don't make sense here and now.
Trust is being willing to change schools because God says so, and then change again...and then change again.
Trust is going to spend a summer at a camp when people are telling you not to go, that there are better things to do with your time.
Trust is going to Thailand over Christmas break even if I can't see where the money will come from.
Trust is adopting a child, moving to Africa, selling your house, giving your money away.
Trust is knowing there is a reason for ministry.
Trust is waking up at 6:00 every morning for a huge goal.
Trust is knowing there is a reason for the circumstance.
Trust is starting the orphanage even when it appears that there isn't sufficient funds.
Trust is believing that God wants you to adopt a child from China even when people around you are saying don't do it, it costs too much.
Trust is doing what God says, even when others say IT COSTS too much...
Trust is believing that God is up to something good in all of our percieved detours and delays.
Trust is remembering ALL that God has done in the past! And KNOWING, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that He will continue to lead, guide and direct in the days ahead.
Trust brings joy.
Trust brings rest.
Trust brings salvation.
Trust brings hope.
Trust is surrender.
Because we can trust Jesus, our trust is never in vain, it is secure.
Our trust is sure.


While I cannot say that I trust well all of the time, or even part of the time, I can say that it is something that God is teaching me. If we think about it, we learn to trust with every breath we take, with every step we make. We are always trusting something, but sometimes trust just gets thrown to the forefront and it becomes really obvious that trust is what God is teaching.

So, for now, even though I am not good at it yet...
I will trust that God is teaching me to trust.
I will trust that the hands of the Refiner are molding my heart to more fully trust His heart.
I will trust that one of the most important things for God to teach us is trust, and so, I will walk through the fire and pray that He purifies through it.

God is an unsatisfied Redeemer.
He will not rest until every fiber of sin is completely destroyed from the hearts of His children.
He loves us too much to leave us in the state we are in, and so He sets about restoring us from the inside out.
Because He is in the process of changing us, He must change our heart and make it fully His.
He also must teach us to trust.
It is a loving thing to do for the Father to teach His children to trust Him.
What intimacy there is in this picture!

At the end of the day, we are to "have the same attitude Jesus Christ had," Phil. 2:5 - Jesus trusted His Father completely...
and so, we must get to the point where we can say, "not my will, Father, but Yours be done."
We must fully recognize, and understand and trust that, "As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless," 2 Samuel 22:31. God's way is always perfect.
Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as rightousness. Abraham trusted God.

Hebrews 11:
1 - "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Faith is a lot like trust, they are very similar, very closely related.
(I know they are not fully the same, but this is just to make a point.)
2 - This (faith) is what the ancients were commended for.
8 - By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.
10 - For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
17 - By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice.

At the beginning of Hebrews 12, we see a wonderful picture of a person running a race.
The verses say to "fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Why would those verses say to fix our eyes on Jesus?
Why not just concentrate on running a little harder?
Why not take a drink?
Why not look around and take in the scenery?
To get a little better view of this, let's use our imaginations a little bit.
Imagine you are running across a beach towards an ice cream stand!
It is a sunny afternoon, 85 degrees, beautiful.
However, the beach is very crowded, and there are many obstacles and hardships and scary people and crashing waves and loud noises. Oh, and you are a 3 year old little kid.
This is a scary place! Running doesn't sound so much fun anymore!
You start to tremble, your pace starts to slow, fear begins to overcome you, trust goes out the window.
But then you look up, and you see your Fathers eyes peering down at you.
He is walking slowly and confidently at your side, just a little bit ahead of you. You are simply following your Father.
He smiles, and says, "come on son, just a few more steps, and then we can get some ice cream!"
Immediately, all of your fear and trepidation is immediately washed away!
You bound ahead, full of joy and energy.
As long as your Father is there, everything is going to be ok.

That same picture is conveyed here.
As long as our eyes are on the One whose intense love for us was revealed on that old rugged cross, nothing can stop us.
As long as our eyes are on the One who holds the stars in His hands, we have hope.
It is easy to trust in the Author of the story. The Author has already penned the ending, and His children are His prize possession.
Trials may come.
Hope may seem to fade.
Mountain peaks may loom.
Danger may come.
But nothing can ever touch His children without His consent.
As for God, His plans for His children are perfect.
We must simply trust in Him, trust in the One who is the Author of the story, and find peace.

And so for now...
even though I have yet to fully learn to trust...
I am content.
God is teaching me to trust.
He is teaching me to wait.
He is teaching me to be patient.
He is teaching me to let go.

As a sinner, those are very foreign concepts for me.
But my heart is under construction by a faithful God who will not rest until it fully restored.
Transformation may not always be easy, it can in fact hurt.
But it is such an incredible blessing from the hand of a God who is more loving than I can fully comprehend.

Thank You Jesus, for teaching me to trust.
Thank You Jesus, that You never stop working on me.
Thank You Jesus, that You are the Author of the story and that You have already penned every page of my story.
Thank You Jesus, that You have allowed me to be a part of Your story, help me to bring You glory, because the story is all about You, it's never about me.
Thank You Jesus, that You bring neverending joy to my life!
Thank You Jesus, for Your place.
Thank You Jesus, for Your pace.
Thank You Jesus, for Your grace.