Before Time
Scrambling is not a God thing.
Humans scramble because we get caught unawares.
We get a call from the boss and instead of the report being due next week, it’s due tomorrow.
Humans scramble because we didn’t plan well.
The exam is in three days contrary to our assumption that there was going to be enough time to study —and now we’re in trouble.
Humans scramble because somethings are out of our control.
An emergency catches us off guard and our best laid plans go out the window.
Scrambling is strictly a human activity.
Our human bodies and the environment we exist in, lend themselves to limitations and cause us to get in a dither when we perceive ourselves in the unforeseen.
I always thought the loot Israel got from Egypt after getting their freedom was a sweet afterthought to make up for generations of unfair treatment.(1)
The loot was indeed payback for centuries of cruelty, but it wasn’t something God thought about on the spur of the moment.
Remember Abraham’s (then known as Abram) frustration with God because he had it all except a child?(2)
When God covenanted with -the patriarch formerly known as Abram- the Almighty told him of events that were 400 years out.(3)
Not only was Abram going to have descendants, but those descendants would be plentiful, and they were going to be enslaved by another nation.
Cheery prophecy, right?
Even as God told of the evil that lay ahead, He also told Abram that there was going to be some semblance of justice.
The unpaid labour that had been provided was going to be paid for and Israel would leave Egypt wealthy.(3)
Between Genesis 15 and Exodus 11, a lot happened, but things turned out just how God said they would. (1)
Evil had its day, but God made things right and not just because He had a last-minute brain wave.
The God who authored the exodus of Israel out of Egypt is still God in a world being overtaken by AI.
Sometimes I look at some situations and think, too late, too bad or too far gone.
As per logic, if resolution is ever to come, God will have to get a move on things.
Truth is, God doesn’t hurry because unlike us, the future is not all obscure.
God knows what’s coming and He’s already prepared countermeasures long before any situation gets out of control.
Human as I am, time increases my doubt, especially when that passage of time highlights recurrent unanswered prayer.
Hard as it is to admit, there are things God isn’t going to do, but the things He’s going to do, He’s going to do even if it doesn’t suit our stop clocks.
God is not worried that something looks last – minute and He’s not intimidated by the passage of time.
Neither should you.
That’s a message I need on repeat.
Maybe you do too.
- Exo 12 v 36
- Gen 15 v 2-3
- Gen 15 v 13 -14