Thursday 30 Aug 2012

Thursday Reading: Luke 12:16-21

Key Verse: Luke 12:20
20  But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

Devotion:
One of the biggest unknowns to us is when. When will we get something, when will we die, when will things go right, when will things go wrong? The more that we ask these questions the more confused we seem to get and the less likely we will be able to make head or tail of what lies ahead.

God is the one who is in charge of and in control of time. He is the One who does know when things should be done for our best interests. He continues to juggle things in our lives so that we will be to obtain the best things at the best times – so long as we are willing to trust Him and follow His will in our lives. When this rich man saw that his crops were going to be more than he had ever had, his instinct was to scrap the silo and barn that he had and to make for one bigger and better – his first reaction was to trust in his own strengths and riches than to trust in Christ’s strength and judgement.

If we really do want to know what is going on then we should make sure that we will be able to put up with the answers to our question as well. It’s all very well saying that we want to be able to know when things are going to happen so that we can be prepared for them – but unless we do accept what will happen and when it will happen then we shouldn’t expect to know God’s timing. What we should be doing rather than asking God when things will happen is to start out by making sure that we are as prepared as we can be right now. The boy scout motto was drummed into me when I was young: “Be prepared”.

We certainly do not know God’s timing, but we can be prepared so that when we do face His timing we are ready for what He will allow into our lives. Yes there are going to be times when we just don’t know what to expect and times when we cannot be prepared for the unexpected, but at those times, as long as we are willing to trust our God and place our lives, our futures, into His hands then we will get what is best for us. We don’t have to be like this rich fool and build up our own little worlds because we live in this complete world that God has made for us. Let us aim to live in God’s constrains rather than imposing our constrains on God’s will!

Points to Ponder:
Have you found out when it will happen?

Are you trusting God’s judgement?