How Long...

how long, Lord?

Our reality in Christ...if we live in him we will suffer. We must reason through

the situations and possible consequences all of us must face in this broken,

beautiful, and twisted world. One of the major causes of devastating grief

and confusion to be faced is that our expectations are not as God’s

providences. God's providence is God’s caring provision for His people as

He guides us in our journey of faith through life, accomplishing His purpose

in us. God's mission is to save people and shape them to be more like

Jesus. We do not give the subject of evil and suffering the thought it deserves

until we ourselves are confronted with trials and tragedies that bring grief.

We understand that in suffering there will be a profound sense of loneliness.

Such misfortunes as war, racism, genocide, grinding poverty, starvation;

holocausts, ‘natural’ disasters and their exacerbation by evil structures such

as despotic governments, tribal warfare, unfair trading practices, unqualified

avarice...in any and all of these tragedies, in all of this pain, many who lack

a belief system ask where is God? Let us not be unfaithful toward the Lord’s

patience and forbearance. The staying power of our faith is neither

demonstrated nor developed until it is tested by suffering. Maturity is attained

by being proved, tested, like a metal refined by fire. There is a certain kind

of maturity that can be attained only through the discipline of suffering. Jesus

learned obedience from what he had suffered. What on earth persuades us

to assume we should be exempt?

In my prayer of lamentation I am filled with this righteous anger for I am as

the cause of God’s delay in His coming. I know that God has neither forgotten

nor hid His face from me. In concrete language I cry out how long oh God in

my longing. Such language must rest on faith, relying on memories, personal

memories of a God who hears me. This one person makes a difference with

God. This language speaks of a bond, a personal relationship between the

one who cries out and prays to the God of the covenant. But in the pains of

this life, we are to never forget the communal focus beyond the individual,

on sufferings, pain and oppression of myriads of people throughout the

world. This concern enriches the experience of the fullness of God’s people

praying in anguish, even as Jesus did on the cross. We must study the word,

the psalms, to consider how to ask God “how long” without fearing

recrimination, condemnation. Through the word we will learn how to

articulate the grief we are experiencing as we wait on the Lord. God is not

just a mere acquaintance. He is our Father in heaven. We cry to Him having

no fear of abandonment! It is in this confidence and God’s faithful

commitment to His people that we trust in the Lord remembering all that He

has done and will do.Because we know that God cares for us the answer to

“how long” is, it doesn’t matter how long because the Lord will care for us forever.

This faith awareness can transform our crises of despair into songs of appreciation.

In these last days the mere act of spending our grief in full measure before the

Lord can sometimes take us to that mysterious place where we taste the

sweetness of the future while still in the painful present. Longstanding

affliction is a road to be traveled in our journey. The word of truth encourages

God’s people to expect trials and to ask for wisdom to endure them. We’re

exhorted to fix our eyes not on our circumstances but on Christ. This is a

path that God is committed to making us fully like Christ. Asking God how

long is not a question implying doubt. God is big enough, powerful enough

and gracious enough to absorb our anxiousness so that it causes no

conflict...God can take our protests. He welcomes our seeking answers. God

cares about our uncertainties as much as He cares about our moments of

courage, sorrow, and joy. In His mysterious love wants the real us to know

the real Him. He tells us to express our frustration directly to Him. God wants

us to ask Him to act. Giving God our laments and petitions can lead, even

without changed circumstances, to greater confidence in Him.

The spiritual essence of the “how long” question is not how long we ask for

the judgment of God, but how long till our Jesus comes. The heavenly realm

is nearing the earth to accompany our departure. How long will this

take...when all of God’s purposes for our salvation has been fulfilled. We

have this earnest expectation. The decretive or sovereign will of God

assures us that God's purposes for His election will come about and that God

will have the final word regarding the when and the how of its denouement

as His narrative is drawn together. His permissive will, however, gives His

volitional image-bearers a degree of latitude in shaping “the when” of that

denouement, though not its’ “how”. For “the when” is our living up to God’s

standards. God's purposed time is determined to coincide with the perfection

of our characters, but exactly how and why it is affected is shrouded in

mystery, and mystery, of course, is the yet to be revealed will of God. It may

be that “the how” is with our responsibility to share the gospel with those who

have not heard it, giving them an advantage that leads them to repentance

and to enhance the natural revelation of God to them. We must be diligent

as we are passed under the rod to progress the kingdom of God. It is actually

our calling as we patiently, eagerly wait on the Lord, earnestly desiring and

so the more hastening his coming. Our grasping of the faith of Jesus unites

the coming of the Son of Man and the cry of God's people for retribution

according to the righteous judgment of God in the treasury of being the final

generation.How long before the faith of the people of God in America is complete?

The spiritual joy we have in the truth is that joy of the Ethiopian eunuch, the

treasurer of the African queen, expressed in his rejoicing. We rejoice,

because like this African court official, we the descendants of the Hebrew

Africans brought to theses shores are now called to share our faith and to

demonstrate our witness to the Lord. We are to be the response to the call.

The response is to conduct ourselves in the way worthy of the Word. We

have heard with Black ears, seen with Black eyes, and understood with Black

hearts. Our election is not shared by all. How long were we in dark days?

How long were we a forbidden people? How long was the book closed to us?

The spiritual memories became stories. The stories became sermons. The

sermons proverbs and the proverbs shouts. And the shouts descended from

heaven. The bible was not for our ancestors a mere record of the wonderful

works of God, it is a present record of what is now and what is coming. How

long till the story ends for all who are faithful. Ours is not a new message, it

is a new encounter. Scripture is part of our roots. The word is sunk deep in

our sorrows.

Faith is a remarkably enquiring thing. Consider questions God asks, we ask,

and we hope someone would ask us. Questions deepen our understanding

of our faith. Good students of the bible ask hard questions of it. When we

ask God “how long”, He does not give us an answer, He gives Himself. As

we come to understand the “how long” question, it brings wisdom, insight

and encouragement to help us face our situation or challenge. Our “how

long” question is not asked because we have grown tired and weary of the

journey. It is not asked because we fear the unknown things. We are content

to accept the things we cannot understand and are not revealed as we wait

patiently. In due time He will reveal the treasures of the unknown to us - the

riches of the glory of the mystery. We recognize that the mystery is simply

the veil covering God's face. Many clouds will descend upon our life, but God

is in the cloud. And the other side is radiant with His glory. It is a wonder why

we ask the “how long” question considering complete liberation is held out to

us in each and every moment of our lives, including this one. All we need do

is completely submit our hearts, our minds, our very souls to God and the

assurance of His coming is not how long but rather very soon. In Christ this

renders our salvation greater than hope...it makes it a certainty. The reason

we ask “how long” is because we are simply rehearsing the journey. When

we take the journey, Jesus will end it.

We’re in the day when separation begins, and we remember who we really

are. How the “how long” question plays in the spiritual journey...it motivates

us to progress never thinking we are done. It keeps us from thinking too

highly of ourselves being advanced in the word. Our journey is the test of

truth. The truth of what we are is not for words to speak of nor describe. We

realize our function here...we are the heralds of salvation by grace alone,

through faith alone in Christ. We do not seek a function that is past the gate

of Heaven. Knowledge will return when we have done our part. The “how

long” can be an almost infinite difference between God’s will and our choices.

Even though the Holy Spirit can teach us all of salvation in one instant, it can

take us a very long time to give Him that instant. It takes far longer to teach

us to be willing to give Him this instant than for Him to use this instant to offer

us the whole of Heaven. How long is the image of our awakening? It happens

in discernible stages. How long will it be until understanding finally comes to

lighten our minds? The progress of the people of God may be slow or rapid,

depending on whether we recognize the atonement’s inclusiveness. There

is through reasoning a complete awareness of the perfect applicability of the

truth of the atonement to all situations. The people of God may have

accepted the function God has given them long before they have learned all

that their acceptance holds out to them. That is God’s purpose. It is the end

that is certain. Anywhere along the way, the necessary realization of

inclusiveness may reach the people. If the way seems long, let us be content.

No matter how long it seems, we should be content. Why? Because the end

of the atonement is absolutely sure in Christ. That word “content” is vital. We

should keep foremost in mind that every day, every moment, might be our

last; not because we might die, but because we might wake up. It is at this

moment that complete salvation is offered us, and it is at this moment that

we can accept it. This sense of the nearness and availability of Heaven is

crucial. We should arise each morning and think, “today could be the day.”

Not because we are especially spiritually advanced, but because today we

just might decide, uncharacteristically, to be truly open to being perfected in

Jesus because of the atonement purposed by God. We reach God directly

retaining no trace of worldly limits. We who are certain by faith of the outcome

can afford to wait, and wait without anxiety. How long? Patience is spiritually

gifted to the people of God. All we see is certain outcome, at a time perhaps

unknown to us as yet, but not in doubt.

The ”how long” is God making us ready. We do not ask this because of any

resentment over being in this world. We can set about doing that which will

help other live joyfully in the present. We can ease the suffering around us

through forgiveness. Rather than trying to transcend this painful world, we

must aspire to be a beacon of truth within it. Thereby trusting God to know

how long is the perfect time. Trusting God requires not knowing how God is

going to accomplish what is to be done and not knowing when He will do it.

Why? Because God uses times of waiting to stretch our faith in Him and to

bring about change and growth in our lives. We must wait God’s way. We

are made perfect under trial. God gives us certain things to happen in our

lives, but He doesn’t always allow us to see the exact timing of His plan. It is

in our trusting God that keeps us on the path moving toward the finishing of

His plan. It may be that many would give up if they knew “how long”, but in

accepting God’s timing we learn how we are being made ready for every

trying situation. Sometimes God may take us the long way. He has His

reasons and purposes. God knows precisely how long it would take for His

plan, His purposes for all things to be perfectly complete. Our propensity is

to finish things now. What of the souls to be saved because of our witness

or another’s testimony? This is why faith is so important in the believer’s

life. Because when we struggle to understand, we have to hold onto

promises from God. Multitudes are asleep in Christ. Though these are

counted faithful, they cannot be made perfect for the kingdom without

God’s people being some better thing in the last days. God hears their

spirit’s cry. They returned to Him. They are on the other side of life. God is

ordaining where we are in life, He has a design of love. God's primary goal

in our life is not our comfort, is not our earthly joy, and is not our best life

now. God's primary goal in all He does in our life is that we might treasure

Him and glorify Him. And doing that entails our fulfilling God’s purpose for

each living soul.

Time in God’s eyes moves at different speeds from time in our ours. And in

the life of faith, it’s critically important that we learn to rely on God’s timing

more than our own. God’s time is relative to His wise purposes. God has put

eternity into man’s heart, so that we cannot find out what God has done from

the beginning to the end. This is that mystery of God. In designing us with

eternity in our hearts, the “eternal God” made us to know him. But in limiting

the scope of our perspective and comprehension, He also made us to

fundamentally trust Him and not ourselves. He declares the end from the

beginning and from ancient times things not yet done. As his followers, we

wait. We wait for the Father to send the Christ appointed for us. The fullness

of the time will come again...soon!

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⛰ Go Deeper

This reflection is part of a larger Bible-based study on faith and transformation.

👉 Read more at OnlineBibleCourse.com

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