God's Timetable

If you want to know a bit about God’s timetable, schedule a talk with Adam or Eve. They had been told not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil or they would die.

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Genesis 2:17)

Guess for a while after Eve took that first bite she could have been a bit concerned. But that would have gone away when she realized she was still standing there, not dead. Perhaps, as we are today, expectations of instant response were her guidelines. The serpent had told her:

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: (Genesis 3:4)

Then added a greater enticement:

For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. (Genesis 3:5)

Hey, if God was wrong on that first part, maybe there’s more to be discovered! So she happily flits off to bring Adam up to date on this whole new world. And, he falls for it, too. Heaven only knows how the rest of the afternoon went, until God came visiting.

Shame. It’s not felt any longer, is it? They hid, but it didn’t work. They blamed, but it didn’t work. Then they were introduced to God’s timetable, and understood that they would, truly, die.

They obviously did know good and evil, but the knowing doesn’t help. It’s the doing of one or the other that sets the pattern for the rest of our lives.

Ask any convict about how they ended up in prison. Once past the "It wasn’t my fault," response you’ll find it was not an act of good that brought them to his place.

Unfortunately, we all have some acts that are not good that put us on paths that reach where we are today. Very fortunately, through the grace of God, we’ve also walked along paths He laid out for us. There are gardens along the paths of our lives, too, and people can tell who and what we are from the fruit we’ve spread along our paths.

Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. (Matthew 7:17)

What fruit have you planted along the pathways of your life? Take a good look at it, for our Lord also says:

Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. (Matthew 7:20)

God promised Abraham a son. God promised David a kingdom. God promised Jezebel retribution. God promised Israel a Messiah. None of these happened within expected timetables. Oh, the words that could be written of each of them!!

God also promised He would return. He gave Daniel a measurable timetable. Yet, it cannot be measured.

Some, as Abraham did, give up and set out to create their own. Some, as Jezebel did, refuse to believe and continue to ignore God’s timetable. Do so at your own risk. Eve did, too.