Leave it Alone!

Once again I'd like to share from my good friend, Gene Cowden. He often sends me little gems of thought and I'd like to share this one.

When "The oxen stumbled, and Uzzah . . . steadied the Ark ," his intentions were good. He didn't want it to fall. But he overstepped his bounds and touched what belonged exclusively to God. Sometimes your "strength is to sit still" (Psalm 46:10), and take your hands off what you've entrusted to God's keeping. Even when your "oxen stumble" and things don't go the way you think they should, God doesn't need your help. He understands the situation better than you ever could, and when the time is right He'll "do wonders never before done" (Exodus 34:10 NIV). Sure, it's frustrating to have something within your grasp and not be able to reach it, especially when others who seem less deserving are enjoying what you so desperately want. But the Bible says: "Be patient . . . trust the Lord. Don't let it bother you when all goes well for those who do sinful things" (Psalm 37:7 CEV). The Canadian preacher A.B. Simpson said, "Often there is nothing as Godly as inactivity on our part, or nothing as harmful as restless working, for God has promised to work His sovereign will."
Paul writes, "Be glad for all God is planning for you. Be patient . . . and . . . prayerful" (Romans 12:12 TLB). Long-range purpose will stop you from becoming frustrated by short-term delays. That's why God said, "Whoever believes will not act hastily" (Isaiah 28:16). In Acts we read: "Paul and his companions . . . [were] kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching . . . in . . . Asia " (Acts 16:6 NIV). Why? Because:
(a) the timing wasn't right. Apollos had to go there first and lay the groundwork;
(b) God needed Paul and Barnabas elsewhere;
(c) He wanted them to be more seasoned before embarking on such a major mission.

Thanks Gene! I always appreciate your great contributions. On another note...I hate trying to log in to update my blog. Since I originally started this blog under my yahoo mail account, it has created all sorts of interesting hoops I have to go through now that it is associated with google mail. It is insane that I have no google blogs, but I have to be signed in under google mail to log in to the dashboard of this blog. Ahh, but it's worth the effort to share on this blog. Please forgive the last few weeks of frustration of not being able to get in to my dashboard because of this snafu.