by Doc Adkins
When we think about this word, “summertime” and separate it into two words it appears that one doesn’t go with the other. There just doesn’t seem to be enough time at summertime.
It seems like we are always pressed for time. And that we want everything right now.
With e-mail and texting we can get some things done immediately, but not everything; and we seem to get impatient waiting for what we want.
Whether it is service at a restaurant, results from tests, answers to prayers, etc. Did you ever stop to really think about how long some people had to wait or do without in the Bible??
Here are a few examples:
- It rained for forty days & nights while Noah and his family and ALL those animals rode out the waves!! (Genesis 7) Forty days is a little less than a month and a half. Can you imagine being cooped up in a smelly boat or going without bread & water for that long?!? I can’t!! For most of us it’s hard not to eat for 12 hours before a blood test!
- Moses was up on the mountain with the Lord for forty days and nights without eating or drinking water! (Exodus 34)
- Jesus was in the desert without food AND being tempted by Satan for forty days and nights! (Mark 1)
- Then there was the seven year famine in Egypt; granted it was after a seven year abundance, but not everyone planned ahead (that would probably be me!). (Genesis 41)
The questions here are these:
- What were you doing seven years ago?
- What will you be doing seven years from now?
I bet you didn’t have half of the friends that you have now back in 2006; and you will probably have many more by 202o.
This, for me, is the biggie — the Israelites wandered in the desert for forty YEARS! (Numbers 32 & Deuteronomy 2:7) Now forty years is a looooong time. You guys know that I am a groovy geezer , and I have lived almost 59 years; and some of you are barely behind me by far! By the time most people are forty they are settled into their lives, not out wandering around trying to find it.
My point in bringing up all these events from the Bible is that God took care of all these people and HIS plan was fulfilled in HIS time.
So the next time you make a prayer request to God, be assured that he is taking care of it in HIS time; which doesn’t always coincide with our time plan!
Believe me I know that it isn’t always easy to wait, but we have to trust that God will work everything out according to His Time.
Maybe HIS TIME is Summertime.