It's about Time!

"Do you have a Ford Villager on the lot?  Is it green? We'll take it!"  We ambushed the young car salesman as soon as we exited The Lemon.  We were desperate to regain our plan.  We had strayed.  We learned  our lesson and wanted to get back to the plan.

We had a six month plan to purchase a new car.  For once (because we are both subject to impulse buying) we had shopped, discussed and budgeted. In six months we were going to buy a green Ford Villager. 

Soon after we made our plan our impulsive nature took control.  A fellow from church had just started selling used cars.  He called and had a "great deal" for us. It was a fine looking car and it had lots of amenities. The price was right.  So we bought it.

I should have known that this was the wrong decision when the first morning the "new" car slept in our driveway I awoke to not one, but two flat tires.  The next 30 days were a series of strange sounds and finally a quaking of the front end.  That was the final straw.  My husband called and said, "Meet me at the Ford dealer. Right Now!"

We'd had a plan, a good plan and we ditched it for something else.  I remember this poor choice so in the future I will trust God's plans and His timing.

Mark 1:14-15 remind me that God has a timeline and not to rush it or stray from it.  After John was put in prison, Jesus went to proclaim the Good News. The Good News was the time had come for the Kingdom of God.

The Israelites had lived under another's rule for generations. It must have been great news to hear that the end of oppression was near.  Those living at this time must have realized that finally the time was right.  There had been rebels who tried to bring an end to Roman rule but none had succeeded in kicking the Romans out.  At this exact point in history Jesus was announcing it was time.  I'm sure many were eager to follow.

Yet I know that those living and hearing His words misunderstood.  They thought Jesus would kick the Romans out.  He would be their King. History and experience tell me that Jesus offers a different kind of kingdom.  The Israelites wanted freedom from the rule of the Romans.  The Kingdom of God offers each of us so much more than physical freedom.  God's Kingdom gives us freedom of the soul. 

Jesus came to pay the price for my attempts to control my life and my time.  If I just follow Him and choose to live in His Kingdom, following His time table and plan, I will be free from the oppressive state of the world.

God invented time, I did not.  God is in control of time, I am not.  God has a plan for me, a really, really good plan.  Why do I keep thinking I have a better way?  I continue to let the world tempt me with good deals and amenities.  I may think I need to "take my time" but I really need to accept and take God's time!

Finally, I am reminded that just as we rejoined our plan for the Ford Villager, God offers me the opportunity to rejoin His timeline at any time!  I just have to follow His plan.  He is merciful and loving and always awaits my decision to rejoin His work.  The consequences are of my own doing.  Yet God loves me in spite of them.  God loves me exactly as I am with poor choices and flawed timelines.

There is the freedom of the soul.