I can't number the times I have wished God would hurry up...with an answer to my prayer...with a bailout in the middle of my muddle...with a fresh sense of His working in my life.
But there is one well-established principle in the Scriptures, and it is dramatically demonstrated in Jesus' experience.
You can't rush a resurrection.
Matthew's Gospel records no less than three times that Jesus clearly prophesied that He would be killed by His adversaries and that He would rise again (16:21, 17:23, 20:19). He not only stated precisely that it would be the third day, but He predicted His resurrection upon an Old Testament type: the third-day deliverance of Jonah from the belly of the great fish. (Matthew 12:40)
These advance notices of His resurrection are forceful arguments for Jesus' sense of purpose and power. They also offer a valuable lesson for you and me. If I am walking in the simple path of God's will for me, I can never be conquered by anything. I may be down, but I'm not out. He will get me up again, and He says when it will be...on the count of three.
Have you ever seen boxers, flattened by their opponents, try to scramble to their feet too quickly? Rather than taking the nine-count, using the time to recover their equilibrium, they attempt a quick bounce-back. It's almost as though they're trying to convince themselves, the crowd, and their opponent that they weren't really hurt. Somehow, a downed boxer's identity seems wrapped in his ability to show a "can't hurt me" facade, when, in fact, his hurried rising--I've seen it often--leaves him wobbling, staggering, and open prey for a quick kill at the hand of his competitor.
Consider with me, friend: If Jesus could have called for angels to spare Him the suffering of the Cross (Matthew 26:53), don't you know that He could have called for an early deliverance from death? The message of His submission to the Father's timing as well as the Father's plan is profound in it application to your life and mine.
Don't attempt a humanly energized "bounce-back" from those circumstantial "knock-downs" you encounter. God has His own kind of "mandatory nine-count": it's a third-day rising for everyone who will wait for His moment of miracle deliverance.
"Easy to say, Pastor Jack, but I've waited longer than three days, or three weeks, or three months...in fact, more than three years. What about my resurrection?
I hear you. And I know the pain often wrapped in that kind of inquiry. But the answer is in a return question: "Have you entrusted everything concerning your case to Jesus?" If you have, then the entire matter is sealed and delivered...in His resurrection.
The message is this: As surely as Jesus rose on time, your triumph will be on schedule also. Lazarus' schedule probably seemed a day late to him, too.
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