Reason #598
"This night had been reserved by the Lord to bring His people out of the land of Egypt, so this same night now belongs to Him." Exodus 12:42
Maybe you're like Israel and you've been crying out forever. 430 years. 156,950 days. I don't know how many of those days were filled with desperate prayers for freedom, but I bet it was significant. And yet there were people who yearned, who pleaded, requested and asked for freedom that died a slave. Because before the people of Israel became slaves in Egypt, God had a plan. Before they planted roots there, God had a plan. A divine night when they would be set free. And so it was 430 years exactly. Not a day before, not a day after. 430 days because that was the right time.
Maybe you're like me and you always expect instant answers, fully forgetting that God is not limited by the human timeline. Because you read His word, and it takes mere minutes to get from one passage to the other. Reading over hundreds of years of waiting, of trials, of wondering, of asking and pleading, and we get to cover it in about 5 minutes. We don't realize that these things took time. And so we expect the same thing. I do this in life all the time. I wonder when things will happen. When will God move me from here to there? When will He answer this request? When will this particular event take place in my life? And like the Israelites, I just want to be there. I just want to be to that sweet place where the milk and honey is flowing so that I don't have to wait anymore.
But notice the verse. The night had been reserved. God had set this night aside to rescue His people. He had it on the calendar. If only we could have access to that calendar, right? But God had a plan and so there was a reason the people needed to wait 430 years to the day. Maybe it was because it took that long to finally raise up a leader to lead them out. Maybe it was because it took that long for there to be a Pharaoh who would flat out defy God regardless of the calamity He brought upon Egypt. Maybe it was because God needed to give Israel that much time to grow so that they could thrive in the wilderness rather than losing the entire civilization within a few years. Or maybe it was because it just took that long for the people to get in the mindset that they'd actual be more than willing to leave the place the called home and head out into the middle of nowhere without questioning it. I don't know why God picked that exact night, but there was a reason.
I don't know why God picked August 6, 1987. I don't know why He picked January 1, 1994. I don't know why God picked October 1, 2011. I don't know why He picked July 22, 2012 or May 10, 2013. I have no clue the purpose behind these specific dates, but I realize they were days that God ordained. Days in my life that were reserved for big, life changing events. Days where God's glory and power was revealed in a really big way. And I know He chose these dates long before they rolled around, fully knowing exactly what He would be doing in my life on that day.
Every day is scheduled. The good days are scheduled and the bad days are, too. The day we breathe in our first breath, and the day we breath out our last breath has already been reserved. The day that our heart is broken is marked down. The day it is healed is on the calendar as well. The day we walk away from that addiction, the day we give up our pride. The day we lay down our sins and burdens, and the day we refuse to give in to the lies. The day we are diagnosed, and the day we are cured. The day we walk into a situation that changes our lives forever, and the day we make that decision we wish we wouldn't have. Every single day of your life has been reserved for a purpose. And although we don't really know why sometimes, we can see that God makes reservations for important events. Reservations that require a wait. Yet if He didn't feel we were worth it, He wouldn't reserve a single day for us.
So live in the confidence that even though you have no clue what day holds what circumstance, we serve a God who does. One who cares so much for us that He has made it a point to reserve days in our favor. Days to do big things in our lives. Days to teach us, to change us, to rescue us, and to free us. Days to hold us close, to use us, to remind us, and days that will make His name great. Today may not be your day, or it may be. It may seem to be a day just like any other. But remember that each one is reserved for you, marked on the calendar for a reason, so trust God with each one because you never know what it will entail.
#598 - For all of the days that He has reserved for us.
“Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered—how fleeting my life is." - Psalm 39:4
Maybe you're like Israel and you've been crying out forever. 430 years. 156,950 days. I don't know how many of those days were filled with desperate prayers for freedom, but I bet it was significant. And yet there were people who yearned, who pleaded, requested and asked for freedom that died a slave. Because before the people of Israel became slaves in Egypt, God had a plan. Before they planted roots there, God had a plan. A divine night when they would be set free. And so it was 430 years exactly. Not a day before, not a day after. 430 days because that was the right time.
Maybe you're like me and you always expect instant answers, fully forgetting that God is not limited by the human timeline. Because you read His word, and it takes mere minutes to get from one passage to the other. Reading over hundreds of years of waiting, of trials, of wondering, of asking and pleading, and we get to cover it in about 5 minutes. We don't realize that these things took time. And so we expect the same thing. I do this in life all the time. I wonder when things will happen. When will God move me from here to there? When will He answer this request? When will this particular event take place in my life? And like the Israelites, I just want to be there. I just want to be to that sweet place where the milk and honey is flowing so that I don't have to wait anymore.
But notice the verse. The night had been reserved. God had set this night aside to rescue His people. He had it on the calendar. If only we could have access to that calendar, right? But God had a plan and so there was a reason the people needed to wait 430 years to the day. Maybe it was because it took that long to finally raise up a leader to lead them out. Maybe it was because it took that long for there to be a Pharaoh who would flat out defy God regardless of the calamity He brought upon Egypt. Maybe it was because God needed to give Israel that much time to grow so that they could thrive in the wilderness rather than losing the entire civilization within a few years. Or maybe it was because it just took that long for the people to get in the mindset that they'd actual be more than willing to leave the place the called home and head out into the middle of nowhere without questioning it. I don't know why God picked that exact night, but there was a reason.
I don't know why God picked August 6, 1987. I don't know why He picked January 1, 1994. I don't know why God picked October 1, 2011. I don't know why He picked July 22, 2012 or May 10, 2013. I have no clue the purpose behind these specific dates, but I realize they were days that God ordained. Days in my life that were reserved for big, life changing events. Days where God's glory and power was revealed in a really big way. And I know He chose these dates long before they rolled around, fully knowing exactly what He would be doing in my life on that day.
Every day is scheduled. The good days are scheduled and the bad days are, too. The day we breathe in our first breath, and the day we breath out our last breath has already been reserved. The day that our heart is broken is marked down. The day it is healed is on the calendar as well. The day we walk away from that addiction, the day we give up our pride. The day we lay down our sins and burdens, and the day we refuse to give in to the lies. The day we are diagnosed, and the day we are cured. The day we walk into a situation that changes our lives forever, and the day we make that decision we wish we wouldn't have. Every single day of your life has been reserved for a purpose. And although we don't really know why sometimes, we can see that God makes reservations for important events. Reservations that require a wait. Yet if He didn't feel we were worth it, He wouldn't reserve a single day for us.
So live in the confidence that even though you have no clue what day holds what circumstance, we serve a God who does. One who cares so much for us that He has made it a point to reserve days in our favor. Days to do big things in our lives. Days to teach us, to change us, to rescue us, and to free us. Days to hold us close, to use us, to remind us, and days that will make His name great. Today may not be your day, or it may be. It may seem to be a day just like any other. But remember that each one is reserved for you, marked on the calendar for a reason, so trust God with each one because you never know what it will entail.
#598 - For all of the days that He has reserved for us.
“Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered—how fleeting my life is." - Psalm 39:4
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