It’s Sooner Than You Think:

It’s Sooner Than You Think

Late last night I was faced with a dilemma.  On the one hand I had a lot of packing to do for a trip that I am taking to Israel today.  But on the other hand, I was very tired.  And because I knew my flight wasn’t leaving until later in the morning, I was really tempted to just go to sleep and do the packing when I got up.  But for some reason, I just couldn’t shake this nagging feeling that I shouldn’t delay.  After wrestling for a while, I finally decided to stay up until I finished. 

As I was ironing my clothes and thinking about Israel, my mind went back to the last time the members of the Israeli Knesset toured Canada in February 2007.  At that time, I had personally gone through a long and difficult season of spiritual warfare and frankly, I was worn out.  So while I was looking forward to the tour and spending time with the Jewish people, I really wasn’t in a place of great faith or expectancy with the Lord.  But to my surprise on the very first night in Ottawa, I saw an incredible openness of heart between the Christians and the Jewish people as all of us, it seemed, were touched by a powerful and compelling presence of the love of God.  It was as if we could feel His favour and pleasure as “the brethren dwelled together in unity.” (Psalm 133). 

It has been a great desire of my heart for a long time to see God heal the deep hurts that have existed in the relationship between Jews and Christians. I don’t want our children to inherit the division and pain that we inherited.  Yet knowing that these wounds are founded in terrible historical atrocities perpetrated by Christians against the Jews, I always felt that any healing and reconciliation would be a long and difficult process.  So as I marveled at the freedom and love that I felt in that room in Ottawa, I asked the Lord, “Is this what You promised me a long time ago?  Are You giving me a signal that the time is coming?” And clearly I heard the Lord speak in my heart, “David, it’s sooner than you think”. 

I was still meditating on this story last night when I finished my packing and gratefully collapsed into bed.

Early this morning I was awakened by a phone call from Air Canada.  The flight that I was taking to Toronto had been delayed for four hours, putting me in jeopardy of missing my connecting flight to Tel Aviv. I asked the agent if there was anything I could do.  “The good news,” she answered, “is there is another flight. The bad news is it’s leaving in a few hours.”  My flight was leaving sooner than I had thought – and I was so grateful I had listened to the Lord’s prompting to finish my packing the night before!

As I raced to the airport, I was reminded how at the start of the last Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah, which occurred on September 29) God spoke to me that we had entered into a season of acceleration and as such, we needed to get used to a new spiritual “timetable”.  Instead of marking the seasons of the Lord year by year, now we would be seeing shifts every 3 months.  And because of this, the luxury of casually listening to the Lord or delaying in responding to His voice was gone. 

The men of Issachar, the Scriptures tell us, were wise because they recognized the seasons and the times in which they were living.  And so it is for us today.  The timetables of God are shifting; we are entering into the season of “sooner than we think”.  So we need to be alert and vigilant to hear what the Spirit is saying and radical in our obedience to bring all aspects of our lives into alignment with His rhema (spoken) word.

I really believe this is also the season when we are going to begin to see the kingdom of God being established on earth as it is in heaven.  And so it’s important for us to understand that the release of this true spiritual governmental authority isn’t going to come by our strength, our wisdom or our ability.  It’s only going to come when we hear what the Lord is saying and choose to move by faith in obedience to His voice, regardless of what things look like to our natural minds.  When we walk this way, we exalt the Lord to His rightful place as King over all the circumstances of our lives and we position ourselves to see His power and His authority establish His purposes in the earth.  All He is requiring of us is that we be a people willing in the day of His power. 

All my love

David

Late last night I was faced with a dilemma. On the one hand I had a lot of packing to do for a trip that I am taking to Israel today. But on the other hand, I was very tired. And because I knew my flight wasn’t leaving until later in the morning, I was really tempted to just go to sleep and do the packing when I got up. But for some reason, I just couldn’t shake this nagging feeling that I shouldn’t delay. After wrestling for a while, I finally decided to stay up until I finished.

As I was ironing my clothes and thinking about Israel, my mind went back to the last time the members of the Israeli Knesset toured Canada in February 2007. At that time, I had personally gone through a long and difficult season of spiritual warfare and frankly, I was worn out. So while I was looking forward to the tour and spending time with the Jewish people, I really wasn’t in a place of great faith or expectancy with the Lord. But to my surprise on the very first night in Ottawa, I saw an incredible openness of heart between the Christians and the Jewish people as all of us, it seemed, were touched by a powerful and compelling presence of the love of God. It was as if we could feel His favour and pleasure as “the brethren dwelled together in unity.” (Psalm 133).

It has been a great desire of my heart for a long time to see God heal the deep hurts that have existed in the relationship between Jews and Christians. I don’t want our children to inherit the division and pain that we inherited. Yet knowing that these wounds are founded in terrible historical atrocities perpetrated by Christians against the Jews, I always felt that any healing and reconciliation would be a long and difficult process. So as I marveled at the freedom and love that I felt in that room in Ottawa, I asked the Lord, “Is this what You promised me a long time ago? Are You giving me a signal that the time is coming?” And clearly I heard the Lord speak in my heart, “David, it’s sooner than you think”.

I was still meditating on this story last night when I finished my packing and gratefully collapsed into bed.

Early this morning I was awakened by a phone call from Air Canada. The flight that I was taking to Toronto had been delayed for four hours, putting me in jeopardy of missing my connecting flight to Tel Aviv. I asked the agent if there was anything I could do. “The good news,” she answered, “is there is another flight. The bad news is it’s leaving in a few hours.” My flight was leaving sooner than I had thought – and I was so grateful I had listened to the Lord’s prompting to finish my packing the night before!

As I raced to the airport, I was reminded how at the start of the last Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah, which occurred on September 29) God spoke to me that we had entered into a season of acceleration and as such, we needed to get used to a new spiritual “timetable”. Instead of marking the seasons of the Lord year by year, now we would be seeing shifts every 3 months. And because of this, the luxury of casually listening to the Lord or delaying in responding to His voice was gone.

The men of Issachar, the Scriptures tell us, were wise because they reconized the seasons and the times in which they were living. And so it is for us today. The timetables of God are shifting; we are entering into the season of “sooner than we think”. So we need to be alert and vigilant to hear what the Spirit is saying and radical in our obedience to bring all aspects of our lives into alignment with His rhema (spoken) word.

I really believe this is also the season when we are going to begin to see the kingdom of God being established on earth as it is in heaven. And so it’s important for us to understand that the release of this true spiritual governmental authority isn’t going to come by our strength, our wisdom or our ability. It’s only going to come when we hear what the Lord is saying and choose to move by faith in obedience to His voice, regardless of what things look like to our natural minds. When we walk this way, we exalt the Lord to His rightful place as King over all the circumstances of our lives and we position ourselves to see His power and His authority establish His purposes in the earth. All He is requiring of us is that we be a people willing in the day of His power.

All my love

David
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