I guess as they say, we are truly in ‘instant’ times. There is instant coffee, instant food, instant marriage in Las Vegas; indeed you can almost get anything you want instantly. The truth however, is that with God we must learn patience. He very often follows processes and if the process takes a while, he may not change it for you and me. The thing is it really is His prerogative whether or not to do it instantly. Indeed, the bible says that those that those that trust in Him shall not be hasty. The reason we trust God to do what He says He will do is because He is committed to ensuring that His word comes to pass.
Jeremiah 1: 12b AMP – “…for I am alert and active, watching over my word to perform it’
Commitment is in God’s nature and so, it is intrinsic in our nature. The seed of commitment is sown in us as the spirit of God comes to indwell us. The amazing thing is the ‘seeming scarcity’ of that same said commitment in our lives today particularly because we ought to be like our God. Even more amazing is the fact that we make a joke of commitment and think it is fashionable not to be committed to anything.
Amongst other things, the Webster’s dictionary says commitment includes ‘an agreement or pledge to do something in the future’. It also states that ‘it is the state of being obligated’. Commitment speaks of a sense of responsibility. It takes it seriously when one commits to doing something and is unable to do it. It takes it seriously enough to ensure that the people that need to be notified are notified so that they can make adequate arrangements to cover what would have been a lapse. The fact that God takes commitment seriously is revealed in Psalm 15 which talks about the requirement for persons who can enter and remain in the presence of God. One of the requirements is as stated below.
Psalm 15: 4b NLT says “… and keep their promises even when it hurts”
Jesus, the son of God came down to earth and said over and over again that He was committed to doing only the will of God. He did it to the end and was given a name above all other names. Despite the pain and shame he suffered, He was obligated and He never forgot that. If He was irresponsible like we often are, He would have dumped it when it became tough and we would have been in trouble today because all the good intentions in the world would not have saved our souls. It took Him seeing His responsibility through to the end.
As we often say, we are mere men and so are allowed to fail which is correct, but to treat with carelessness our commitments whether to God or man is unacceptable. The lack of commitment is so bad now that it is beginning to ruin the basic family units and the society is slowly being destroyed. What is worse is that some people avoid commitment because they do not want to be obligated to do anything. How very sad. God expects more from us and He has given us a good example in Christ Jesus.
Well said. @ first paragraph, It's also important to note that while waiting for his appointed time the attitude of praise cannot be overemphasised.
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