Day 84 All in God's Good Time

 

3/25/2026

"'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways 

My ways,' saith the LORD. 'For as the heavens are higher than

the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and

My thoughts than your thoughts.'"

Isaiah 55:8-9

 

In Isaiah 55 God is giving Israel an invitation to abundant life in Him, reminding them of the covenant He made with David, and everlasting covenant, and God never breaks His covenants. He urges His people to seek Him while He may be found, to return to Him, and He will "abundantly pardon." The same applies to us as believers in Jesus, as we have been grafted into the Vine through our faith in Jesus. As Gentiles, our acceptance into the Beloved is not by birth, but by faith in Jesus Christ. We are blessed when we surrender our lives to Him, desiring the life He has set aside for all who believe. God reminds us in verses 10-11 that just as the rains come down, watering the earth and bringing forth seed to the sower, so His word goes forth, and it accomplishes what He sends it to do. His words and promises are not in vain, and He always accomplishes His purposes. These words should offer considerable reassurance especially when considering the present world situation, and the crisis state all appears to be in, for many reasons. Although many of our human problems are of our own making, God has always prepared a way out, when we are obedient to His word. Why is it that man always wants to do things the hard way, and he always seems to be in a hurry to do it?

I was reading about David's life in 2 Samuel when he finally ascends to the throne after Saul's death. It's important to note that David never forced the issue of his being anointed as King while Saul was still in the role. Although the anointing had been removed from Saul and placed on David, Saul was staying put. David served Saul faithfully knowing that God had anointed him as king. Even when Saul was trying to kill David, and David spent so much time on the run, he never wished Saul ill. On two occasions he could have taken Saul's life, yet he never did. One time David repented for cutting off a piece of Saul's robe when he was in the cave where David and his men were hiding. The story is amazing. David wasn't perfect by any means, and his moral failures were many, yet God called him a man after His own heart, and his covenant with David is everlasting. The lineage of Christ coming from David's line is something to marvel over. I've written many times about the interesting people in the line of Christ. God had all this planned before the foundation of the world. 

David had a dream to build God a tabernacle, a place to dwell, but God did not allow him to fulfill this dream, because David was a man of war. So God used David's son, Solomon, to build Him a house of prayer, a place where He would dwell among them. Even when God refused David, he didn't grumble or complain, because he already knew how blessed he was to have been chosen for the position he served. David couldn't believe that God would choose him as king, much less promise to him an eternal destiny:

"Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, 'Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family that You have given me all this? For all the great things You have already done for me are nothing in comparison to what You have promised to do in the future! For now, O Lord God, You are speaking of future generations of my children being kings too! You speak as though I were someone very great. What else can I say? You know that I am but a dog, yet You have given me these wonderful promises because of Your own great heart. O Lord, there is no one like You - there is no other God. In fact, we have never even heard of another god like You!'" (1 Chronicles 17:16-20 NLT)

With regard to not being allowed to build the tabernacle for the Lord, the commentary put it this way: "Personal ambition yielded to sovereign direction." David recognized God's sovereignty, without question and with gratitude. The commentary also made the point that: "The hardest territory to hand over to God is the heartland of your dreams." 

I have personally faced what appears to be death of a vision I feel the Lord had given to me. Many times God has shown me things, or reminded me of visions/dreams, and I wonder if I am hindering them coming to fruition. I have questioned myself many times, but I cannot get the image or the words from my mind and wonder - "If this is You, Lord, then when? How? Did I miss it? I'm not getting any younger here!" It's not that I am upset or angry with God. I just don't want to blow it! In this recent illness I've been going through, where I have to actually force myself to rest - not easy for me to do - I am listening more attentively, or I certainly hope I am. The thing with obedience is that we learn to take steps and make the effort in faith, but we must leave the timing up to God. In David's case, the temple would not be built until after David's death, so he wouldn't even see it, but David did know that his son, Solomon, a man of peace would have the honor. God has His ways, His plans, and His timing. And He knows best! David obviously realized that and accepted it graciously. Perhaps I need to do the same!