Trying Times - “WAIT”
by
Dr. Gale A. Ragan-Reid (5/29/2013, 6/1/2013, 6/15/2013, 6/18/2013, 6/22/2013, 6/29/2013)
“If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come”
Job 14:14, KJV [Job waiteth for his change].
Greetings in the Matchless Name of Christ Jesus,
HOW ABOUT THAT FAITH? Living a holy life, is hard, when the feelings, in your heart are less than holy and the thoughts, in your mind are less than holy. You must wait on the LORD! Living a righteous life, is hard, when your joy “steals away”(Genesis 31:27-28, KJV, [Laban pursueth Jacob], “Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and steal away from me; and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, with tabret, and with harp? And hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters? Thou hast now done foolishly in so doing”).
You must wait on the LORD! Most recently, a friend spoke of her divorced son and the arrangements, for holidays spent with children. A dreadful thought, for most of us, I am so sure, especially, when apart. She said, “...but she put witchcraft on me. And, the way she is on the world wide web is not her true self.” She tried to say the words in her heart to describe the truth she felt and I could hear the raw emotions reverberating the surface of her heart like the sound of a tambourine, tinkling around the boom, each time hurting more than the next, trying to understand the gist of it all. I thought to myself, the same “...but”, meaning everyone on the world wide web, are that way, in some way or another, hard to understand, with troubles, sufferings, issues; someone from one of the baptist churches, I frequent put it this way, 'We all have circumstances and situations'.”
“Yes, that, too.” I spoke to my friend's need for me to affirm what she already knew, in her heart, speaking of the witchcraft issue, that you reap what you sow – it (the witchcraft) comes back to you. Whatever you sow, the same is what you reap. You sow money, you reap money. You sow food, you reap food. You sow services, you reap services. You sow witchcraft, you reap witchcraft. Exponentially speaking, God introduced multiplication to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, 'be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28, KJV [Creation of man]), which answers, “how much” and joins us in prayer, one for another. Of course, you could always stand alone as a lone wolf but it is far better for you than not, to join in prayer, in one body, in Christ Jesus, so that you receive what you prayed for and what you sowed in. For “the woman with the two mites” would not let them definitively say that you will reap, only the amount that you sowed. The amount you reap, whether 30 fold, 60 fold or 100 fold, is a matter of your heart. Sometimes, a sacrifice, as small as it might appear to those, in possession of more than you have, is enough to receive what you prayed for and to make your “cup runneth over “(Psalm 23:5) and to “receive a blessing there is not room enough to receive it in” (Malachi 3:10).
Sincerely, I speak to you, the gospel of Christ Jesus, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23, KJV [The fruit of the Spirit]). A rocket scientist might say, but it does not take a rocket scientist to say, well, if, I sow fruit, in the Spirit, then, I reap fruit, in the Spirit. This means I must sow a contrite heart filled with love to reap a contrite heart filled with love. For is love a fruit of the Spirit or am I still questioning my heart whether I want love or not? Therefore, goodness is leveraged the same way but remember the woman with two mites.
We thank the woman with two mites for change. How much love is in your heart? How much goodness is in the whole of you, heart and mind? What is not answered here, is how long must I wait? You must wait on the LORD!
2
Jesus, in the gospel readings of Mark, spoke plainly to his disciples, about the woman with two mites (St. Mark 12:41-44, KJV [The widow's mites]):
“And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how
the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were
rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and
she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he
called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I
say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than
all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did
cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in
all that she had, even all her living.”
HOW ABOUT THAT FAITH? Some folks might ponder to themselves or aloud, that the woman with the two mites was in the presence of Christ Jesus. I say to you, as Christ Jesus said to his disciples that those in their abundance, only cast in, “of their abundance”, meaning a portion, a part of their whole abundance, not all they had to their name, for all their living, on the earth, from birth to the moment she met Christ Jesus. She could have given half of the two mites, since it was all she had for her living. The widow with two mites, willing to wait for God to give “of her want” to her, is a model of change.
Truly, she was willing to wait for her change. Truly, indeed, she was willing to wait on the LORD, to receive what she prayed for. Christ did not let her faith, go unnoticed, it was a teachable moment, for faith; waiting for change. How many of you, have given all that you had, willing to wait on the LORD, to answer your prayers?
“In the last book, of the old testament, Malachi, a prophet, whose name means 'my messenger', the prophet spoke of the judgment levied against the Jews of Judah for sin and 'faithlessness' and of course, he spoke of their belief that Elijah would return; rightfully so, those persecuted by sorcerers, were directed to give 'an offering in righteousness' (Holy Bible, n.d.; Malachi 3: 3-5, KJV [God's promise of blessing]):
“And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver:
and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them
as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD
an offering in righteousness. Then shall the offering
of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD,
as in the days of old, and as in former years. And I
will come near to you in judgment; and I will be a
swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the
adulterers, and against false swearers, and against
those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the
widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the
stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the
LORD of hosts.”
Yes, Job waited on the LORD, for his change (Job 14:14, KJV [Job waiteth for his change]). Sarah waited on the LORD (Genesis 18:13, KJV [God appears to Abraham]). Joseph waited on the LORD (Genesis 37:5-7, KJV [Joseph's two dreams]). Israel, in Egypt, waited on the LORD (Exodus 13: 17-22, KJV [The Israelites go out of Egypt]). Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel, waited on the LORD (I Samuel 1:20, 26-27, KJV [Hannah prayeth for a child]). The fathers of old waited on the Lord, Christ Jesus (Hebrews 11: 4-39, KJV [Faith in the fathers of old]). We, also, must wait on the LORD.
3
God is present (Jehovah-Shammah). He is with us. His spirit is with us. God spoke to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:16-18; 3:9, 13, 16-17, KJV). The LORD appeared to Abraham in the plains of Mamre as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day (Genesis 18:1, KJV). God spoke to Jacob between Beersheba and Haran when he lighted upon a certain place to rest for the night (Genesis 28:10-11, KJV [Vision of Jacob's ladder]). In the Egyptian houses, the LORD gave Israel favor to borrow jewels of silver and gold as well as raiment so that the things they borrowed they could take when He led them out of Egypt (Exodus 12:35-36, KJV [The firstborn are slain]), God appeared on Mount Sinai and spoke to Moses (Exodus 18:18, KJV), God spoke to Joshua to go over Jordan (Joshua
1:2-18)...
“Firstly, Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene at the sepulchre, after resurrection – first appearance (St. John 20:18, KJV [Christ's resurrection]); next, Jesus meets the women (Mary mother of James, Salome, and Joanna) on their return to the city – second appearance (St. Matthew 28: 8-10, St. Mark 16:8, St. Luke 24: 9-11, KJV), Jesus seen by Peter (Cephas, I Corinthians 15:5 – third
appearance (St. Luke 24:34), seen by the two disciples on way to Emmaus – fourth appearance (St. Mark 16:12, 13, St. Luke 24: 13, 35, KJV), later, after eight days, Jesus came again to the disciples and Thomas who missed him the last time, was there (St. John 20:26-29, KJV [the incredulity of Thomas] (Jesus appears to the ten, Thomas being absent) – fifth appearance (St. Mark 16:14, St. Luke 24: 36-49, St. John 20:19-23), to the disciples came Jesus and stood in the midst, and breathed on them so that they received the Holy Ghost (St. John 20:19, 22 KJV [Christ's resurrection]), Evening of Sunday after Easter day, Jesus appears to them again, Thomas being present – sixth appearance (John 20: 24-29), The eleven go into Galilee, to a mountain appointed. Jesus appears, and commands them to teach all nations – seventh appearance (St. Matthew 28: 16-20, St. Mark 16:15-18, KJV), Jesus shows Himself to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias, he stood on the shore, -eighth appearance (St. John 21:1-24, KJV), Seen of above five hundred brethren at once (I Corinthians 15:6), probably along with the eleven – ninth appearance (St. Matthew 28:16), He is seen by James, then by all the apostles (Acts 1:3-8; I Corinthians 15:7) – tenth appearance. In all, 538 (549 if the eleven (Matthew 28:16) be distinct from the 500) persons are specified as having seen the risen Saviour: also, after His ascension, St. Paul (I Corinthians 15:8)” (Holy Bible, n.d.).
In reflection, the salvation history of woman reminds us, Eve disobeyed God (Genesis 3:13, KJV), Sarah laughed at God (Genesis 18: 12-13, 15, KJV), Hagar despised (competed against) Sarah; for the wrong of Sarah's decision was upon her when she gave Hagar to Abraham. Hagar had to flee away pregnant with Abraham's child, Ishmael (Genesis 16: 5-11, KJV), Rebecca switched Jacob for Esau to take Esau's blessing (Genesis 27:15-23, KJV), Rachel took her father's idol god when she left with Jacob (Genesis 31:30, 32, 34, KJV, [Laban pursueth Jacob]), Tamar dressed like a harlot to deceive Judah, her father-in-law, in order to bear children, under her dead husband's name (Genesis 38: 13-16, 26, KJV [Tamar deceiveth Judah], God made a covenant with Israel so they (daughters and sons) would not covenant with the inhabitants of the land to go whoring after the gods of the inhabitants of the lands (Exodus 34:14-16 [God's covenant with Israel]), Rahab, the harlot saved her family by hiding Joshua's spies (Joshua 2:1, 3-5, 6:25 [Rahab's covenant with the spies and Jericho is destroyed]... Esther replaced Queen Vashti, who refused to come at King Ahasuerus' commandment by his chamberlains (Esther 1:11-22, KJV [A queen to be chosen]). In trying times, like these, we find an even stronger need to draw nigh to God, so he will draw nigh to us...than ever before, forgetting the past...as we press toward the mark for the prize... and run our course to the finish (James 4:8, KJV; Philippians 3:13-14, KJV; II Timothy 4:7, KJV).
