Anticipation
Dear Friends,
Do you remember the old Heinz ketchup commercial, “Anticipation?” The ketchup was so slow coming out of the bottle, they had to create an entire marketing campaign to convince people that it was worth waiting for! We, as a church, are in a period of anticipation as well while we anxiously await moving into our new campus. It’s so exciting to think about all the things that we can and will do when we get there. Of course, it seems like the closer we get, the harder it is to wait!
The problems come when we start to push, to try and speed things along. We want to make things happen but they’re really not ready to happen yet. We, as a body, believe that God has called us to make this titanic effort and to build a new home for FrBC. It’s natural to want to be in that new home sooner rather than later. However, since God is behind the effort, we need to trust God to bring it to its commencement in His time.
The first thing we need to understand about God’s timing is that it is perfect, just as all of God’s ways are perfect (Psalm 18:30). God’s timing is never early, and it’s never been late. In fact, from before our birth until the moment we take our last earthly breath, our sovereign God is accomplishing His divine purposes in our lifetimes. He is in complete control of everything and everyone from everlasting to everlasting. Nothing we do to hurry things up will affect His eternal plan which He set into motion before the foundation of the world.
The Apostle Paul tells us that patience is a spiritual fruit (Galatians 5:22), and Scripture makes it clear that God is pleased with us when we display this virtue: “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him” (Psalm 37:7). “God is good to those who wait for Him” (Lamentations 3:25). Our patience often reveals the level of trust we have in God and His perfect timing. God operates according to His perfect schedule, not our imperfect one. Another interesting fact that the Bible shares with us is that patiently waiting on God’s timing can give us divine energy and strength: “But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31). “Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!” (Psalm 27:14).
When we question God’s timing, it is often because we are looking for deliverance from a difficult situation. The longer we stay in our current church home and the more that this space shrinks, the more difficult it gets to effectively operate the programs that we run here. We can rest assured, however, that our heavenly Father knows exactly where we are and what we need at every moment. He either put us in this situation or is allowing us to be here, for His own perfect purposes. God’s Word tells us that all things – including these current cramped conditions – work out for the good of those who love God (Romans 8:28).
I encourage all of us to keep praying. Pray for available workers and supplies. Pray for generous, sacrificial giving to continue coming in to the building fund. Pray that God will bless our patience as we continue to anticipate that day when we walk into our new home and lift praises and thanksgiving to Him. Pray that God will use this period of waiting on His perfect timing to mold and shape us into the church that He will use to reach the lost all around us.
Only by Grace!
Pastor Mike