God’s Thread

Sometimes when I read Old Testament narrative, I am struck by the way the writers seem to be fairly blasé in their approach to describing time.

Joseph was in an Egyptian jail for 17 years; Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Jacob worked for seven years for his future father-in-law Laban before he was allowed to marry Rachel.  After a trick was played on him, he waited a further seven years before he could finally marry her.  Abraham was 85 years old before God promised him a son with Sarah. It was another 15 years before that promise became a reality.

It's not because God loses interest in these people – rather, His plans are much bigger, involve complex and important lessons to be learned, faithfulness to be displayed and humility on the part of the receiver.

God’s timing and our agendas often don’t line up.  We are keen for God to do “something” that we have prayed for, according to our own timeline. It is really easy to fall into the trap of forgetting, in our prayer time (our conversation with God, so to speak) to check whether what we seek is part of God’s plan.

I watched a superb group of Year 12 students carry themselves magnificently as they participated in the valedictory service for 2023.  These 117 students have, for all of their lives, been the subject of focused prayer – said by their parents, relatives, teachers, friends and themselves – asking God for their blessing, wisdom, growth in faith, just to name a few topics.

Home, church and school have all played their part in how this has been answered, to this point. Rightly so, we are all full of hope for what they will do, who they will be, how they will express their faithfulness, the ways in which God will be seen acting through them. 

But, I have a sense that things have only just begun.  School may be over, but God’s rich tapestry of life experiences is largely ahead of them. For those who are disappointed in how it has gone so far, do not be discouraged.  For those who have seen their young ones make “every post a winner”, don’t be complacent.  The bulk of their stories are yet to be written.  The first chapter or two is known, and we are thankful for that.

God is a good, good God. He will reveal his purposes for the Class of 2023, in His own timing, in the lives of each of them.  I, for one, stand with their parents and other supporters in anticipation of a great movement of God through the endeavours of these young men and women.  According to His timeline and His purposes. 

The one certainty we know, for each of these young men and women (for all of us in fact) is the reality of what Jesus has already done– so beautifully described in the song The Lion and the Lamb which was one of the worship songs during the service:

Our God is the lion

The Lion of Judah

He's roaring with power

And fighting our battles

And every knee will bow before Him

Our God is the lamb

The lamb that was slain

For the sins of the world

His blood breaks the chains

And every knee will bow before the lion and the lamb

Every knee will bow before Him.

Shalom.