The Joy of Delayed Results

2 Corinthians 13
v.4 For to be sure, He was crucified in weakness, yet He lives by God's power. Likewise, we are weak in Him, yet by God's power we will live with Him to serve you.

Jesus disappointed so many people. He failed to fulfill the promise to which they held Him. He knew that many would feel their dreams and hopes shattering as they were dashed to the ground with His "trial," beating, mocking, and crucifixion. The fact that it occurred according to God's will, for a greater benefit than a mere earthly kingdom, and for all people rather than merely the Jews, frankly did not prevent pain and heartache among a people which had felt hope starting to swell inside after nearly being extinguished under enemy occupation and rule.

Have you, like so many of us, felt you have been given a divine promise, a desire and hunger in your heart to see something occur, and perhaps found yourself in a time when it seemed about to happen, only to suddenly find events taking a turn that seems to have ended the possibility you envisioned and into which you were prepared to throw yourself, heart and soul?

Is it possible that instead of hope being realized, that you may be in that seemingly interminable period that every gardener experiences? That time when you take out the seed that you have carefully protected and hoarded through the winter to preserve the life it contains and committed yourself by exposing it to the elements as you buried it in the ground where it would either perish or grow?

That time that, once you have committed your hopes and dreams, you cannot take back your actions and you realize it is out of your power to affect the outcome? That time of going to the place you buried the seed you held precious and anxiously checking to see what the result will be, only to turn away time after time after time with only barren, empty ground visible, until hope for your vision of fruitful, productive results begins to wither?

Is it possible that just as Mary went to the grave where she had seen her hope buried and instead she found her hope and promise and joy was alive and well in the form of the risen Lord, that you may be near the realization of your dream, the receiving of your promise, the fulfilling of your faith?

Isaiah 12
v.2 Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation."
v.3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

Just as God had determined from before the foundation of the world that the plan of salvation would be started, planted in the appearance of weakness, so also He purposed that His redemption of creation would be completed in the demonstration of power. Nothing that flesh, the world, or the enemy planned or did altered the accomplishing of His will. With this work done, we know that the end will come to pass as we have been told in Scripture. The only choice left is ours. Will we have faith to follow where He leads, obey what He says, accept what He does? Will we endure?

Isaiah 14
v.24 The Lord Almighty has sworn, "Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand."
v.27 For the Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart Him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?
v.30 The poorest of the poor will find pasture, and the needy will lie down in safety.

In weakness we serve, just as Jesus lived. He had no armies of men to send into battle, no treasures to spend on needs, He had only His will to submit to His Father God; when He did, God confirmed Jesus' obedience with signs following. We cannot demonstrate God's faithfulness if we carry the trappings of the world's success with us; we must be the poorest, the neediest, the weakest, the most foolish in man's reckoning for those watching to understand that it is God who is directing us, protecting us, healing us, strengthening us, speaking to and through us. We will end up being a disappointment, an embarrassment, a failure to those who know us after the flesh; but to those who are being saved, we will show the power of God unto salvation.

Isaiah 16
v.5 In love a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it-- one from the house of David -- one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness.

Just as the kingdom of God was not to be the earthly kingdom that many people expected from Jesus, even so the people of God will not be the earthly wonders that many people are looking for. The Body of Christ will move in love, because the world disdains love as the weakest of emotions. But it is in love, not might, that the throne of God will be established, and justice and faithfulness will proceed from it, and the power of God will be shown to the world.

Psalm 57
v.2 I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills His purpose for me.
v.3 He sends from heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me; God sends His love and His faithfulness.
v.7 My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.
v.10 For great is Your love, reaching to the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
v.11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let Your glory be over all the earth.

God of all strength, thank You for accepting us in our weakness. God of all wisdom, thank You for Your plan of salvation that leads us into redemption. God of all glory, thank You for making us useful for Your work. As we draw closer to You we become more acutely aware of our shortcomings and failures. Our cry from the heart to conquer all unbelief, all lack of trust, all the weakness, sorrow, pain, discord and conflict that hold us back from coming even closer to You is heard and, in Your grace and time, answered as we are able to receive it, growing in faith little by little, day by day, changing from glory to glory through Your spirit.

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