In One Single Day
Hurry does a lot of damage in my life. All of the things I've done that I'm ashamed of, I did because I was in a rush, or because my hurried schedule was being frustrated. It's when I'm rushed that I say things I regret. It's when I'm frustrated that I do things I regret.
We must "ruthlessly eliminate hurry."
"Be still and know that I am God." (Psa 46:10)
"In quietness and trust shall be your strength." (Isa 30:15)
"Wait for the LORD; be strong and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!" (Psa 27:14)
It takes a lot of strength to wait for the Lord, but we won't know real strength until we do. Waiting on the Lord is hard. Being still is hard. There's a lot to do! And who's going to do it if we don't do it!? Let's get cracking!
Be still for a moment and listen to this: "Do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years." (2 Peter 3:8)
What does this tell us about God? For example, how much work can God get done in one day?
Imagine what you could do in 1,000 years.
I love stories of people who through diligence over time transform an ecosystem. For example, "the Forest Man of India" has been planting trees and grasses on a large island destroyed by over-farming and erosion. Forty years later it's a lush and productive home to over two hundred families. Or take the fellow in Texas, David Bamberger, who for forty-plus years has been reversing the damage of overgrazing and misuse on nearly 5,000 acres.
Imagine what you could do in 1,000 years.
Now imagine that you could do all that work in a single day.
Now imagine what God can accomplish in a single day.
God can do 1,000 years’ worth of work in a single day.
I think that means that we don't have to hurry and worry so much. There is a lot to do. It sounds, though, like God can handle it. We can do our part and be obedient, and we can trust God.
Be still and know that He is God. He operates on a different time scale than we do, one that makes Him magnificently more trustworthy and effective in all He does. Wait for the Lord. I know it's hard—it's hard for all of us all the time. But if we can wait for Him, if we can follow Him, what might we begin to see?
It takes strength to wait on the Lord. But oh what power we’ll see when we do!
Sometimes we are disgruntled with what God isn't doing. Perhaps that's because we're out in front looking at where He isn't going. Let's wait a bit, hang back, and watch. God can do a lot in a little bit of time. What might we begin to see more of, if we would trust Him more?
Photo by William Daigneault on Unsplash
