God Never Hurries
He will not let your foot slip —
he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
Psa. 121:3-4 NIV
As a pastor, I feel like all the books that I own are half-read. My time is constrained. I read diligently for sermon preparation each week. As a canon theologian, I need to do theological research for denominational papers and essays. Also, I develop Bible studies as needed for Wednesday and Sunday nights. I am constantly looking to various resources for help in teaching and studying the Bible. I start a book to educate myself on a particular subject, but cannot finish the book for the need to move on to the next topic of inquiry.
Lately, I have decided on a new goal. Presently, I am not teaching St. Michael’s Seminary. So, I have some time for reading that I have not had over the last five years. Therefore, I have decided to make time and attempt to finish some books. Books that I, and others, consider classics. Books that have passed the test of time and devotionally inspire me to greater love of Christ. I am starting with A.W. Tozer’s The Knowledge of the Holy.
The Knowledge of the Holy is an extended meditation on the attributes of God. Each chapter focuses on a particular quality of God’s character, nature, and being. The book sounds abstract, but each chapter is written as an act of worship drawing the reader into a sweeter, more intimate love relationship with the Blessed Trinity. Tozer wrote the book out of concern for the Evangelical church. If we have a mistaken understanding of God: our conduct, choices, and actions will result in poor judgments, flawed decisions, and immoral behavior.
A right conception of God is basic not only to systematic theology but to practical Christian living as well. It is to worship what the foundation is to the temple; where it is inadequate or out of plumb the whole structure must sooner or later collapse. I believe there is scarcely an error in doctrine or a failure in applying Christian ethics that cannot be traced finally to imperfect and ignoble thoughts about God (pg. 10).
Today, I completed chapter eight on God’s infinitude. For God to be infinite means that he is inconceivably great. God has no limitation and nothing externally can determine his choices. Time is an externality that making constant demands on us, but not God. Time takes a great toll on our lives: it attempts to pressure us into making impulsive decisions. Time forces deadlines and makes us feel inadequate, insufficient, and overwhelmed. However, God is not limited by time’s constraints: he is limitless and endless. God is not shaken by deadlines: he has all the time in the world.
Jesus Christ is fully God, he lives in us by the presence of the Holy Spirit, and as he lives in us, he will not be intimidated by deadlines. Therefore, we should never be panicked, under the gun, or anxious as a result of a deadline. The God who is infinite is in control of our personal lives. God is above deadlines, and therefore, we can be free from their anxious and worrisome producing demands.
How completely satisfying to turn from our limitations to a God who has none.
Eternal years lie in His heart. For Him time does not pass, it remains; and those who are in Christ share with Him all the riches of limitless time and endless years. God never hurries. There are no deadlines against which He must work. Only to know this is to quiet our spirits and relax our nerves. For those out of Christ, time is a devouring beast; before the sons of the new creation time crouches and purrs and licks their hands. The foe of the old human race becomes the friend of the new, and the stars in their courses fight for the man God delights to honor. This we may learn from the divine infinitude.
A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1961), 52.
Good word Father… Thanks for sharing. I missed being with you all tonight. Blessings!!