Just In Time

A Time Like No Other

What a time to be alive! Despite the many challenges we confronted in 2020 and the already seemingly trouble brewing to start 2021 in the American presidential race, Christians can take comfort that God still sits on the throne and He has no equal.

With the inauguration just around the corner, many Christians who voted for President Trump are worried that he will be a one-term president and at best, a possible second-term president in 2024. It wasn’t always like this. When the main stream media made the call the day after the election that Vice President Biden would be the 46th president of the United States, many Christians still held onto hope for a few reasons. Initial hopes (outside our faith in God) were probably hung on the fact that there was clearly fraud and surely, they would have to investigate what happened. When calls for government sanctioned investigations went unanswered and the courts refused to even hear some of the cases, I began to see the faith of even the most committed Christians begin to crack. Then came the electoral vote on December 14th and many requests through the court system to include the Supreme Court. These options also fell through and the prayers of the saints went unanswered. At this time, the faith of even the most credible of Christians began to crumble. Calls for the President to conceded came from Christians, Conservatives, Christian-Conservatives, and many others.

We are now down to January 6th where Congress will certify the election results. This most likely will serve has the last vestige of hope for those familiar with the electoral process. But for those Christians who voted for President Trump, is this really our last hope? Many prophets proclaimed Trump was a two-term president. Were they wrong? Some of these prophecies go back decades. If God said it would happen, it’s going to happen right?

I believe that America is at a crossroads and although said in many other elections, this is the most consequential election in American history. With the Georgia Senate elections tomorrow also in the balance, a Christian America moving forward seems impossible without the Republicans and the President winning their races.

Don’t get lost in the idea that God hates Democrats and Biden. I think it is pretty clear that God loves everyone (John 3:16) and can use anyone to bring about His will. But this election wasn’t about choosing Trump or Biden or even Republican or Democrat. This was about choosing a government that would carry out His will for not only this Nation but for the world. So there is no question that this election was about choosing the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob or something else.

Now for those who believe that the President isn’t God’s chosen servant and that the Democrat Party platform aligns more with Biblical principles than the Republican platform, I will share my thoughts on why I believe that isn’t the case in another blog post. For now, I want to focus on why the President will get his second term and it won’t be in 2024.

So, for those who have already picked up their stones so they can hurl them at the “false prophets” who said President Trump will get a second term, please allow me to show you why God is always on time and this election is not over.

The Bible is filled with stories that provide a physical representation of spiritual lessons. I want to briefly go over each to demonstrate that delays shouldn’t be a new idea for Christians and why we must come before God and pray, fast, and seek His face and ask that He have His way with our Nation so that the promised revival will come about not only in America, but around the world.

Parting of the Red Sea

In Exodus 14:15-18, it says, “Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen."

Here we find that God’s timing was necessary to draw the enemies of Israel into the Red Sea so that they could be destroyed. Parting the sea and then closing it up before the Egyptian army would have worked but God’s timing allowed the enemy to be ensnared. I believe that this is one of the reasons why this is happening now in this election and why the delay has been so long. The longer this drags out, the more people are being drawn out in the open so they can be exposed and removed from impeding God’s will.

Raising Lazarus from the Dead

In John 11:38-43 it says, “Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.”

When it comes to the 2020 presidential election, I think a lot of Christians can relate to this story. Like Martha, many Christians are probably saying, “Trump’s chances are so dead, it is starting to smell pretty bad around here.”

I love what Jesus says, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” This is what I believe God is saying to His church right now. Trump’s chances may seem like they are dead and stinking up the place, but God’s timing is always on time. He is asking us to believe so we can see His glory.

Crossing of the Ark of the Covenant

In Joshua 3:7-8 it says, “And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses. Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.” Later, in Joshua 3:14-17, it says, “So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So, the people crossed over opposite Jericho. The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.”

Now a few things stand out to me here. First, God told Joshua to have the priest take the Ark of the Covenant and go ahead of the people. We can all take solace knowing that God is always going ahead of us. Secondly, the river was at flood stage. I think a lot of Christian Trump supporters see a second-term like crossing a flooded river. The third thing that stands out to me is that the priest stood in the middle of the river. Just think about that for a second. Standing in the middle of a river that is at flood stage is the worst place to be because getting to either side is just as long. But true to form, God demonstrates His faithfulness and power in the most impossible situations.

The last thing that stands out to me is that the water didn’t stop until the priest feet hit the water. Imagine the faith it took to step into a flooded river with the Ark of the Covenant on your shoulder? Unlike the Red Sea, the waters didn’t show any semblance of stopping or receding until the priest’s feet hit the water.

I believe God wants us to get our feet wet and trust Him that He will get us to the other side no matter how difficult the tasks. In this story, His timing is asking us to commit by getting our feet wet and showing we really do trust Him to come through.

Abraham and Sarah’s Promise

In Genesis 18:9-14 it says, “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him. “There, in the tent,” he said. Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So, Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?” Then the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

Sarah was around 90 years old and Abraham was around 100 when this promise was made to them. I think a lot of us would have responded the way Sarah did given her age. But once again, God is not limited to worldly standards and His timing is always perfect. If you are familiar with the story, Abraham and Sarah try to get ahead of God and Abraham and his servant give birth to a son named Ishmael which would cause problems when God’s promised son Isaac arrives.

Once again, in this story we learn that God’s timing is always the right time. Another lesson we can take away from this story is that when we try to upset God’s timing, we can cause a lot of problems for ourselves. In this election, we have to hold true to the promises of God and trust that in His timing, His promises will come to pass.

Abraham’s Commitment

In Genesis 22:1-2 it says, “Sometime later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” Later in Genesis 22:9-12 it says, “When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

I saved this example for last because you couldn’t get anymore last second than this example. It also shows the commitment required for Abraham to have faith and be obedient to God. I believe God is asking us to have faith like Abraham. He is calling us to trust Him and know that He wants what is best for us.

Conclusion

I can go on and on about the timing of God. All throughout the Bible we find that God uses time to test and sanctify us. Even when Jesus walked the earth, they thought the timing for the Messiah was at hand. What they failed to see is that God had other plans and His timing was perfect because in this instance, it meant that the salvation of the world was achieved and in His second coming, Jesus will be coming as the Messiah they thought He would be the first go around.

So, take comfort in God’s timing! For those who have struggled with your faith because of what has happened during this election, I want to encourage you to not give up. Pray, fast, and commit yourself to God. I believe God is going to do great things in the coming months and He needs a Church that will have faith like Abraham, a Church that will cross the waters no matter how challenging they look, and believe in the impossible, even when it looks like it is dead, smelly, and long past our timing. God is never late…He is always just in time!