Often it is good to get something behind us to have an adequate evaluation. The American way is too fast. Sometimes it’s good to let things simmer and stew before we come to a conclusion. Sort of like cooking a good batch of soup. The flavor has to have a chance to take over the different elements in the pot. It takes time.
It’s funny actually that we like to judge things or people in the heat of the moment. As I peruse the Biblical heroes it would be easy to freeze them at the moment they fell from grace and give them a big “F” for failure. However, when we give God the chance to not only righten the ship but awaken us to His purposes and ways, we can have a different view on things.
Take about any major trial you have gone through in life. When we get on the other side of it and are able to see with eyes of wisdom, we can come to different conclusions than during or immediately after. It is wisdom I hope and pray we gain through our various trials. For some reason ,we now live in a culture that thinks it should be trial free. I find this in the Christian community a lot. There is this false view of God that has many thinking if they live right and do their written or unwritten list, God will shine on them and keep them from extreme pain and suffering. Obviously, they are not well versed in the Bible.
When we have to go through a trial, we think it builds character. In actuality, it shows right where our character resides. It is only after the fact, when we can have time to evaluate our response, that wisdom can be gained. As we insist on this fast-paced, get it done yesterday, fast-whatever life, we often stymie the growth of wisdom.
God isn’t bound by a clock. He is the author of time. We shudder when we read in the Bible that God put his people in the desert for 40 years. We want to faint when we see the Babylonian captivity being 70 years. I want to thank God for being a patient God who speaks in terms of years not minutes or even seconds. He is the author and finisher of our faith. The finisher or the cook is taking a marathon approach not a sprint. His timing is so perfect it brings out our praise for Him at the right time. HIs timing bursts with flavor, illuminates the sky, and makes His way clear.
I remember when our son was going through the trial of his life. As I visited him in Jesup, GA at the federal correctional institute, he greeted me with a smile. He must have seen the stress and worry on my face. He said, “Dad, I need to be here. It will be OK.” He could see what I couldn’t. He needed the time and the place to get his life back on the tract God wanted. He knew that if he was where he used to be, that would not happen. God was at work. Today, he ministers to ex-cons at Shield Ministry in North Charleston. Just the other day he told me, “I’m doing what God intended for me long before I got in trouble.”
We don’t like the process for sure. We don’t like the lost time any less. But, when we understand God does what God wants to do when he wants to do it, we can relax and find a peace we never knew we had access to. Time isn’t lost with God. Once we submit to his ways, we discover the use of that time was indeed in God’s hands.
As we move further and further away from the crazy year of 2020, let us not be quick to judge. Somebody the other day said they were looking for a t-shirt that said,”I survived 2020.” We Americans are funny people sometimes. Yes, we had, and still do have, a pandemic on our hands. Fire ate up the West Coast. Hurricanes made the Gulf States their destination point. We have forgotten we are still in the midst of an opioid epidemic. Schools closed and Internet education was not all that great. Some lost their jobs. The politicians and main stream media have gotten more confusing than ever. Many cities were looted in rioting. It would be easy to assess 2020 as the worst year in the last 50 at least.
However, for the overwhelming majority of Americans, the only thing disrupted was their lifestyle, not their life. In the Bible we find Israelites having to make bricks with no straw. When people groups went into exile it meant rape, death, and pillaging of the like we have never seen. We see kingdoms vanish. Whole cities destroyed. Here, we can’t go to our favorite restaurant and we ask, “Is it end times?”
Let’s not judge 2020 quite yet. Let’s let it simmer for a bit. Yes, many at-risk individuals lost their lives. That should never set easily in our souls. Let’s not judge the “church” yet. Let’ stake the long range view from God himself. Wisdom takes time. Hopefully, we won’t be in a hurry to move on to the next headline.
Remember, if we freeze and judge Jesus right after the crucifixion, we lose site of the great redemption of the resurrection. He is still on the throne. Our lives are still in his hand. Thank him for that one. Regardless of what has happened, regardless of what will happen in 2021, regardless of whoever is the president, regardless of any one event nationally or individually, the only place to have hope that is guaranteed is on bended knee before the Lord. Give him the praise that is due him. Why? Nobody else is worthy. He has stood the test of time.