I am glad you are persevering through this program. You are accomplishing something!
Yesterday, we read how God can do powerful things in an instant, but what about when He doesn’t act immediately?
Is it because He is not capable?
What do you do while waiting on God to act?
Check out Exodus 14.
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
Read Exodus 14
God’s people began the exodus out of Egypt, but it was not long before the Pharaoh decide he did not want the Jewish people to leave.
So, he chases after them.
The Jews were moving along on foot and Pharaoh was pulling up on them quickly.
God’s people were moving, moving where? To the sea… without any means to cross over to the other side.
Remember when we read yesterday of Joshua and the Israelites stepping into the Jordan?
How quickly did the water separate? Immediately.
How long did this miracle take? Look back at verse 21, “…the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land…”
What’s the point? We can see that although God is completely capable of immediate miracles there are times that He performs miracles through more extended, “natural” means.
God sovereignty works through natural (slower) and supernatural (instant) means in this life.
Why does God work this way?
There are 2 reasons that I want you to hold onto.
1. God does everything for His glory.
2. God does everything for our (Christians) good.
We can see the first two points in the Exodus event. When Moses is confronting Pharaoh in Exodus 9:15-16 God says,
“For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
God had the power to get rid of the Egyptians in an instant, but instead God stretched out the event through multiple plagues to maximize His glory.
He also did this for His people’s good at the same time!
“So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go. And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty, but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.”
Through these set of events that maximizes God’s glory He also strategically left the Egyptians ready to give Israel valuable things for their trip and riches.
God works in complex and mysterious ways. God never pursues your good by sacrificing His glory, but He never pursues His glory by sacrificing your good. Now… the things that are good for us do not always feel good and it will not always become apparent why something happens to us – this is where faith in God’s perfection is crucial.
God no doubt has a million wise reasons for why He does anything in our lives, but we can know these two points are always true.
This can give stability and confidence as we can see from this story that God’s timing perfectly accomplishes both reasons.
If you are in the midst of tragedy I do understand this may not feel the most comforting. While God does His work, I encourage you to find a Christian friend to talk with. God gave us each other to help us in hard times too.
A great thing about God’s design is that though He is completely sovereign He has given us the ability to make change in our day to day life.
Accepting the truth that God is in control does not mean we sit around waiting for something to happen. God is in control, but Moses had to confront Pharaoh. God is in control, but David still had to fight Goliath. Nehemiah prayed to God about his troubles, but he also travelled to fix it.
Pray, trust God, and take action by doing what is good and wise. God is in complete control but He has given you areas in your life that you can change and influence – check out this post in the afternoon if you want to understand your circle of influence.
Would you prefer God act in His own timing or your own? Why?
Why is it important that God is glorified?
How would it feel to completely embrace the idea that God does everything for our good?
Check out Romans 8:28 – Does this verse apply to you?
God may be working good in your life through tough times, will you respond by spending more time with Him?
• • • •
Pray:
Ask God to trust His timing.
Thank Him for being ultimately good and worthy of glory.
Thank God for what He has done for you in the past (ex: Saving you.)
“I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.”
– Job 42:2
(How does this verse affect you now that you know God’s purpose for the things that happen in a believer’s life?)
The / in between exercises represents a superset which means you perform both exercises back to back before resting. This increases intensity and decreases the time in the gym – you can do the exercises separately if you prefer.
2 Steady State Cardio Sessions in the AM and PM
Feel free to email me at disciplinedfaith9@gmail.com with topic “Program Questions” if you have any questions.