MORNING MANNA 8-15-23
”NOT NOW—HEREAFTER”
“Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.”- John 13:7
Although the Lord was speaking to Peter, He just as well could be speaking to all of us. Things happen that we don’t understand, and we often complain. We ask,”Why this?”, “Why me?”, “Why now?”. We believe the cup of our circumstances should have been less bitter, the gravity of our suffering less severe, the road of our life less rough, the days of our journey less dreary. Our complaint seems reasonable–to us.
If this describes you, take this as a censure from the Lord and stop complaining. We should trust Him rather than question Him. However, we should also think of this as a word of consolation. The promise “thou shalt know hereafter” should encourage us. Our trials are not without purpose. Everything happens for a reason. The revelation will reveal the reason and, believe it or not, will lead to our rejoicing, because we will see that He does all things well.
Another factor is this–“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”(Ecc.3:1). Some of you have been living with mysteries since childhood and you wonder why a God of love would allow horrible and painful things to happen. Could not an all-powerful God have intervened and stopped it? Would not a loving God have prevented it? Why didn’t He? We don’t know–“not now”, and God isn’t talking. For some reason, a good reason, God is content to leave us confused, but only for the time being. You see, God has a plan, and He also gives us a promise–“thou shalt know hereafter”.
As difficult and unpleasant as it might be we must wait. What else can you do? We must wait until the dark clouds have rolled away and the sunshine of God’s promise reveals the reason why. “Be patient” is the command (James 5:7). Why shouldn’t we?
Would you criticize the artist when he is only half-finished with his picture, or the sculptor when he is still in the process of molding the clay, or the poet before he has finished arranging the words of his composition? Why then do we criticize God? His work in our life isn’t finished and it’s unfair to condemn Him while He is yet at work. In His own good time He will lift the veil so that we can see. In that day we will sit at His feet and, with great joy, listen as He explains the deep things of God. There will be no complaints then–there should be none now.
However, in some instances we won’t have to wait until the dawn of eternity breaks. There are times when when the mysteries are unravelled before our very eyes, while we yet walk upon the earth. One such case was that of Jacob, who once said,”all these things are against me”(Gen. 42:36), only to later discover that those “things” were actually working for him, leading him to an abundance of provision. Dear friend those “things” that trouble you are actually working for you also. To see how, we have to wait until “hereafter”. –HDS, 11-19-10
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E.
Humble, TX. 77346
