We believers, saved by the grace and work of Jesus Christ, our Lord have a constant temptation to get ahead of the will of God when doing is work. We get so busy in the work we fall prey to thinking it is all our work, driven by our control, instead of realizing it is God’s work and He invites us to it. God shows us what is good and right. God’s timing is always best. His methods pure and holy. We are invited into His Holy Kingdom building work by His direction to mature us into all He created us to be!
If fact, spoiler alert, God doesn’t really “need” us to accomplish His work. Bubble busted? I hope so. It is a distinct, holy privilege to be invited by God to His work of salvation and following Him!
The Temptation—
Once we become confident in ourselves, we begin to rely on our own wisdom and strength. We lose the connection, the goal and the presence of God and his guidance when we move forward without Him. The temptation to move ahead of God’s timing never goes well for us. Going ahead of God, thinking that we know what God wants from our human perspective, actually sabotages the work God is doing in us. The evil one loves it when we succumb to this way of thinking and behaving!
We cannot see the work from all sides like God can. It is never wise to move ahead of God’s will and timing. This is a story of those who thought they could with results that changed the world. God taught them (and us) an important lesson of disciplined obedience to God who knows what is best for His created. Don’t mess with God! His timing is always perfect. His direction is forever the right way to go. His guidance leads us to places we can never think or imagine on our own.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
“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
Read, think, pray and live out loud what God is saying to us who live for Him today.
The family tree continues to branch out among the people of God. We are introduced to Abram who marries Sarai, the famous couple renamed later as Abraham and Sarah, who learn and display amazing faith in God that will talked about for generations to come! Let the adventure in the Story of God continue!
Genesis 11, The Message
“God Turned Their Language into ‘Babble’”
1-2 At one time, the whole Earth spoke the same language. It so happened that as they moved out of the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled down.
3 They said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and fire them well.” They used brick for stone and tar for mortar.
4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower that reaches Heaven. Let’s make ourselves famous so we won’t be scattered here and there across the Earth.”
5 God came down to look over the city and the tower those people had built.
6-9 God took one look and said, “One people, one language; why, this is only a first step. No telling what they’ll come up with next—they’ll stop at nothing! Come, we’ll go down and garble their speech so they won’t understand each other.” Then God scattered them from there all over the world. And they had to quit building the city. That’s how it came to be called Babel, because there God turned their language into “babble.” From there God scattered them all over the world.
* * *
10-11 This is the story of Shem. When Shem was 100 years old, he had Arphaxad. It was two years after the flood. After he had Arphaxad, he lived 500 more years and had other sons and daughters.
12-13 When Arphaxad was thirty-five years old, he had Shelah. After Arphaxad had Shelah, he lived 403 more years and had other sons and daughters.
14-15 When Shelah was thirty years old, he had Eber. After Shelah had Eber, he lived 403 more years and had other sons and daughters.
16-17 When Eber was thirty-four years old, he had Peleg. After Eber had Peleg, he lived 430 more years and had other sons and daughters.
18-19 When Peleg was thirty years old, he had Reu. After he had Reu, he lived 209 more years and had other sons and daughters.
20-21 When Reu was thirty-two years old, he had Serug. After Reu had Serug, he lived 207 more years and had other sons and daughters.
22-23 When Serug was thirty years old, he had Nahor. After Serug had Nahor, he lived 200 more years and had other sons and daughters.
24-25 When Nahor was twenty-nine years old, he had Terah. After Nahor had Terah, he lived 119 more years and had other sons and daughters.
26 When Terah was seventy years old, he had Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
The Family Tree of Terah
27-28 This is the story of Terah. Terah had Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Haran had Lot. Haran died before his father, Terah, in the country of his family, Ur of the Chaldees.
29 Abram and Nahor each got married. Abram’s wife was Sarai; Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of his brother Haran. Haran had two daughters, Milcah and Iscah.
30 Sarai was barren; she had no children.
31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran’s son), and Sarai his daughter-in-law (his son Abram’s wife) and set out with them from Ur of the Chaldees for the land of Canaan. But when they got as far as Haran, they settled down there.
32 Terah lived 205 years. He died in Haran.
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
We began with babbling humans who learn that God’s timing is best to Abram who will later display amazing faith and trust in God in every part of his life.
PRAY…
Do I have amazing faith?
Do I have a faith that is “seasonal” according to what I’m going through?
Do I trust in God timing, willing to wait, continuing to work until He says to move forward?
Do I really believe what God says really real?
Our faith, trust and hope are tested daily. We must begin each day with a declaration of allegiance to God, giving our lives to God as an offering, asking God what HE wants for us to be and do, one disciplined step at a time. It’s a narrow path to follow with only the faithful and committed to God; but it is a path to God with great rewards. Those rewards are peace in the middle of trials and troubles, love unconditional along with wisdom from God that is tremendously comforting. His insight and understanding cannot be matched by anyone else. There is no one like our God!
“Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” Ephesians 3:20 NLT
Lord,
Thank you for teaching us more than we first thought we would learn from this passage as we read, think, and pray over what you have written in your letter about you to us. Now help us to live it out loud. Help us to “seek justice (what is right in your eyes), show mercy to each other and walk humbly with you”, as Micah 6:8 relates as what you require from us. And thank you for those times we mess up and you make all things come together for good according to Your will. You are amazing!
In Jesus Name, Amen
Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus) 