“Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe I am He.” John 13:19 (NKJV)
In my 65 years
as a believer, I can only count one experience where God responded to my prayer
as soon as I called to Him. I needed His immediate protection, and He gave it to
me within seconds. But overall, His responses to my prayers have come over long
periods of time.
But in those times of traipsing through the desert wastelands, as with Israel, my clothes or sandals never wore out (Deuteronomy 8:4, Nehemiah 9:21). Every desert has an edge-one that begins-and one that ends.
Nearly 1/3
of the Tanach (Hebrew Bible) and the Jewish New Testament (written by Jews) is
prophetic, that is God’s foretelling of events He would do. Hundreds of those
prophecies have already been fulfilled, proving their truth historically. There are at
least 1000 concerning the return of Messiah Yehoshua (Jesus) yet to come to pass. Jesus
tells John in Revelation 21:5 that His words are true and faithful.
If you’re
feeling the heat through your sandals, there’s three things I can encourage you
with. First, your sandals, or clothes, will never wear out; second, there’s an
edge of exit even to your desert. He will keep you fed and watered up to the
point He leads you out, and third, the words of Christ remain true and faithful.
He doesn’t
lead us into desert sands for His sake, but ours. The greatest growth often comes
from the hottest times. They are times that can sweat out impurities from our
lives. His desire for us is to be free from the hurts, habits and hang-ups that
are holding us back.
Whether Christ
leads us for a time into the desert or answers us within seconds He is always
faithful to feed us and lead us. Every desert has its edges. If He leads us in, He can lead us out. He has told us, so when it happens, we may
believe He is God’s Anointed One. He forever remains the True and Faithful One, on every edge.
Ken
