Paul was a man of intensity. This one sentence sums up well the piston that drove his life:

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace. Acts 20:24

If there ever were an authentic Paul-type sentence, this one is it. He did not simply have a mission, a mission had Paul by the scruff of the neck.

These words would seem to imply that Paul was constantly on the go. But the Bible shows that Paul’s ministry had many starts and stops. Sure he had the pastorate at Antioch along with three grand church planting tours. But these were padded with months and years of Bible silence. There were interludes in Paul’s work when nothing happened.

The great dynamo was flying right into one of God’s great wait periods of his life. In just a few weeks Paul would land in prison and sit there for several years.

Paul may have been in a race but God was not in a hurry. The Lord orchestrated downtimes in his ministry. As any composer will tell you the rests as well as the notes make the music.

Without those downtimes we would not have the Bible. Nor would Paul have had time to think thoughts for the next stage of his life.

Idle times will come to us as well but that does not mean that we are unemployed. Instead these are to be seasons of preparing for the next leg of the race.

I have been reflecting of late that God works in fits and stops. I’m watching my son go through the preparation to buy his first home. Answers to prayer will come followed by silence from heaven. Recently a big answer came, but I warned him to remember that did not mean that the next answer to prayer was right around the corner. It is quite likely that the Lord has padded it all with another wait.

Father, use these waiting times to both save me from my intensity as well as to refuel that drive for you just as you did for Paul. Amen.

Listen to worship music while you read today’s entry.

Casting Crowns Praise You In This Storm

Scripture

“Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” (2 Chronicles 20:15)

“On the fourth day they gathered in the Valley of Blessing, which got its name that day because the people praised and thanked the Lord there. It is still called the Valley of Blessing today.” (2 Chronicles 20:26)

Observation

To whom do my problems belong? Worry tells me that every problem is my problem. It’s up to me to face it and solve it. That’s why we get discouraged because we lock ourselves in a sealed room of fear that even shuts God out.

But faith says that my problem is in fact God’s problem. “The battle is not yours, but God’s.” I remember hearing my mother pray as I was growing up, “Lord it will be interesting to see how you solve this one.” That prayer is based on a confidence that problems are not our property, they belong to the Lord.

I like how the poet Elizabeth Cheney summed it up in her poem “Overheard in an Orchard”:

Said the Robin to the Sparrow,
“I should really like to know
Why these anxious human beings
Rush about and hurry so.”
Said the Sparrow to the Robin,
“Friend, I think that it must be
That they have no Heavenly Father
Such as cares for you and me.”

Application
Because God’s people in this story made their problem His problem they were able to change the atlas. A place that had existed on the maps for centuries under another name was changed overnight into a new name, “The Valley of Blessing.” It would be like changing a street sign after a great victory. When we let God have possession of our problems He too can make changes so great it is like changing the street directory. Our lives become totally different because we let the Lord take over.

Prayer

Father, today I make my problems, your problem. Not out an indifferent passing of the buck, but because you delight in being bothered with our difficulties as it draws our hearts together in love. Amen.