When It Seems God Isn’t Doing Anything
By Creodomus Devotionals
Sometimes in life it looks like God is not doing anything.
There is 400 years between Malachi in the Old Testament and Matthew in the New Testament where we have no sacred record of anything happening. No prophets were speaking. No writings were being made that would eventually become part of the Bible. Was God doing nothing during that time?
No, many things were happening and they were crucial to the next phase of God’s plan. It reminds me a little of a chess game. It can take many moves to set up a strategy and your opponent may (hopefully!) have no idea what may be going to happen. Afterward, comments may be made such as, “That’s why you did that!”
During the “Time Between the Testaments,” Alexander the Great conquered virtually all the lands then known. He was enamored with the Greek culture and purposefully spread it to every place he went. People spoke Greek in every area of the empire. Soon after, the Romans took over this empire and created a time of peace where focus shifted from conquering and defending and allowed developments like building roads between nearly every town.
Now the stage was set for Christ to be born in the perfect setting. He was born in a time of comparative political and military calm, people everywhere spoke the same common language, and travel was relatively safe and easy. This doesn’t mean there were no hardships. Joseph did have to flee to Egypt to save Jesus from massacre by King Herod, but with a good road and plenty of soldiers guarding the kingdom, the trip was possible. The apostles did face terrible persecution, but every letter they wrote about God’s message was able to be read and understood by everyone.
While the curtain was down, the stage was being set, but no one could see what was happening. When you watch a play, all you hear is a few muffled noises, and when the curtain rises for the next act, the stage can be totally transformed into a completely different scene.
So here’s my takeaway: If I’m praying for something and I look around and all I see is a heavy curtain & some shadows and hear a few uncertain noises, then maybe God is doing something to prepare for the next scene in my life.
Leave a comment: When have you felt like God wasn’t doing anything? Has the curtain lifted yet so you can see any of what he was setting up back there?
1 comment from David
This is an area I believe the devil has a lot of fun. He deceives us into thinking(especially )non believers into thinking that He’s not there or that He simply won’t show up for our needs but in fact He promises to be there for us and never leave us. Like the Israelites so often did being led from Egyptian rule we tie God’s hands by murmuring and complaining and crying out and asking why God has forsaken us but the bible instructs us to rejoice and stay focused on our race and not to tempt God. then when we go thru valleys we begin to build much needed muscle to make it up to the tops of the mountains/ remember those of us that believe we should always be on top of the mountains will never understand what it’s like to be in the valleys and in the valleys is where true faith and courage are forged.
No comments:
Post a Comment