Not Yet!

"When You [God] give them your Spirit, life is created,

and You renew the face of the earth."

- King David, Psalm 104:30

"How good does God have to be to you before you're happy?"

- A question from a friend

Anybody frustrated over God's delay – or refusal – to give you what you've been desperately asking Him for?

That financial help… that promotion at work… that good news from the doctor… that glimmer of hope in a wrecked relationship… that positive sign of encouragement in your child. I can't tell you how many times I prayed to get out of something that clearly God wanted me to stay in. Countless times, I prayed and told God He needed to give me this "thing" right now… and He looked at me and said, "Not yet!" Time and time again, I have wanted to get to the end of something… when He would slow me down, make me wait, and then say, "Go back!... You didn't learn what you needed to learn."

Why?... and this is so important to understand… Because if God gives us a gift we are not ready to handle, that gift becomes a curse instead of a blessing!

In Psalm 104, the writer is laying out for us, in glorious detail, the magnitude of the gift God has given us in creation… in this life. And then, at the end of this psalm, in verses 29-30, he says,

But if You [God] turn away from us, we panic. We lose our breath, we die, we turn to dust.

[But] when You give us Your Spirit, life is created and the face of the earth is renewed.

- Psalm 104:29-30 NLT (paraphrased)

In other words, no matter how wonderful the gift is that we have been given… even if God has given us the whole world… If we are not ready and able to handle it… that gift will become a curse instead of a blessing! You know anybody who was given a gift too soon? Someone who was given a gift they were not mature enough, responsible enough, or grown up enough to handle?

Last week, I read about a 6 year old boy who took his father's keys to their brand new car, started it up, and drove it right into a canal and nearly drowned. I could give my son the keys to a brand new car today and it would be a blessing…. That's NOT going to happen, but if it did it would be a blessing because he's 35 and knows how to drive responsibly. But if I had given him that same new car when he was 6 years old it would have been a curse… same car… same family… same gift… but it would have been a curse because he was not able to handle the gift. Sometimes, God's goodness as a Father is seen in His ability to say, "Not yet!" A Good Father's job is to know when His children can handle the gift they've been given.

The message of Psalm 104 is this: The blessing is ready!

The Blessing God has prepared for you in this world is ready! God does not have to get the blessing ready for you… He does need to get YOU ready for the blessing! So you can handle it… make the most of it… so it blesses you instead of hurting you! What did the Apostle Paul say in 1 Corinthians 2:9?

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined

[the wonder, the glory, the blessing that]

God has prepared for those who love Him.

- 1 Corinthians 2:9 NLT (paraphrased)

The blessing is ready! God doesn't have to get the blessing ready for you… But He may have to get you ready for the blessing. So, today, if you're feeling stuck, frustrated, discouraged that God has delayed on His promise to you…

… Ask the Spirit of God to give you patience as He prepares you for the blessing He's already prepared for you.

AMEN

Pastor Harry

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