We’ve been talking about the answers God gives to our prayers. This is a bit of a longer blog series, so to help orient you to where we are so far, here’s a little map!
Answers God Gives (series map):
1. Yes
2. No
3. ***
a) ***
b) ***
c) ***
4. ***
Last time, we talked about when He says “yes”, including an important caution about our attitude towards getting what we want. We’ve also talked about “no” as a valid answer to our prayers.
Today we’re going to examine another common answer God gives, and two reasons why He might give this answer.
3. "Slow."
Sometimes, God may say "yes" to our request, with the added instruction that we are to go slowly and proceed with caution. There are several possible reasons for this. I'm not privy to them all, so this list isn't exhaustive, but here are a few that I've experienced:
A) The plan needs refinement
God may be saying "yes" to the principle of our preferred decision. The general direction of the decision may be good, but perhaps adjustments are required. It may take time to work through the details, to realize another area we need to submit to His direction. It's not sinful to have limits in our understanding of what might be required. But it does take time to open up our hearts and minds to the fulness of a submissive attitude—and even to realize the areas that require us to apply submission!
Impatience has caused many a Christian no small amount of grief. I experienced this at one point when I was bedridden with a back injury for a year, just after we first arrived in Japan. During that time, I learned some important lessons about patience and trust.
The Bible exhorts us to exhibit the fruits of the Spirit. But what are the opposites of the fruit of the Spirit?
Looking at this list, which of these opposites is the least destructive?
In our fast-food, instant-gratification culture, we’d tend to say that impatience is minor, but this is a lie. When I think of my own experiences of impatience, I remember that in those times I've tended to be more easily angered, to lash out, to treat people with less dignity and respect. I tend to fixate on my own way and be resistant to the ideas and preferences of other people, including God's. These are ungodly attitudes and actions.
If we’re impatient, we rob God of the chance to teach and transform us, and we can tear down those closest to us.
Remember the Israelites wandering in the desert. What could have been a time of sweetness for Israel was instead a time of complaint, followed by God answering their complaints.
2 My summary, Exodus 14:11–12; 3 See Exodus 14:21–22; 4 See Exodus 15:24; 5 See Exodus 17:2; 6 See Numbers 20:2, 4; 7 See Exodus 15:25; 8 See Exodus 17:6; 9 See Numbers 20:11; 10 See Exodus 16:3; 11 See Numbers 11:4–6; 12 See Exodus 16:13–18; 13 See Numbers 11:31–32; 14 My paraphrase, Exodus 32:1; 15 See Exodus 32:33–35; 16 See Numbers 14:2–3; 17 See Numbers 14:26–35.
Instead of allowing God to transform them into a people who honoured Him, the Israelites allowed themselves to be led by fear. So, they were thrown out at Canaan’s door and didn’t experience the sweetness of trusting God.
How carefully we need to tread! We can't afford to allow a spirit of impatience and complaint to dominate our mentality. If we are to follow God in all of His ways, we have to cultivate a spirit of thanksgiving, patience, and trust. We don't want to be consigned to forty years of wandering in a metaphorical desert because we refuse to listen, learn, and follow in the time He has set apart for us.
In the end, that time of my back injury would become foundational to decades of further ministry. It would also lead to a new hobby for me: writing. Without our having learnt to slow down and allow God to tweak our plans, we wouldn't still be in Japan, and you wouldn't be reading this blog or any of my books.
B) His goals are different
At times, God may give us a general instruction that will require us to obey, but once we’re moving, He may change the direction of our obedience.
Jesus combines His godly extravagance with gentleness towards human frailty. We tend to get overwhelmed. We turn off and tune out the impossible. He knows this, and shrinks His commands down to a size we can handle.
That's not to say that His commands never challenge or stretch us. They most certainly do. But even when we feel as though we're being stretched to the limit, as if God is asking too much of us, in truth He has perfectly fitted each command to our personalities, spiritual makeups, and current abilities.
At one moment, perhaps the biggest leap of faith that we can handle might be simply to get moving. Given time, our faith grows and, with it, so does our capacity for increased obedience.
We grow into greater faith.
God never wastes anything. He invented recycling. When He moves us from point A to point B to point C, this doesn't mean that point B was unnecessary. Even if we never fully engage in what we thought we would be doing at point B, He's always had some non-frivolous purpose for directing us to that temporary destination.
We may not understand or fully grasp what His plans have been until He reveals it all at the end of time. But when He does, His purposes will be so perfect and so complete that not a single person who has ever lived on this earth will be able to question His wisdom and the rightness of His plans.
Amy Carmichael was convinced that God was calling her to be missionary in Japan. However, she suffered from neuralgia, and was forced to return to Great Britain after only 15 months in Japan. Advised that the climate in India might be better suited for her health, she journeyed there instead. She stayed in India for 55 years, founding an orphanage that took in young girls who had been forced into temple prostitution. Over the years, she wrote almost 3 dozen books, and has had an immeasurable impact on many Christians around the world [1].
As the old saying goes, "It's easier to steer a ship that's moving than one that's tied up at the dock."
Course corrections take time. If a rerouting is part of God's plans for us, we need to be going slowly enough that turning our ship doesn't cause damage to ourselves or the people and ministries around us.
Next time, we’ll talk about a third reason why God might ask us to go slowly and proceed with caution.
NOTES
[1] “Amy Carmichael,” Wikipedia, September 4, 2024. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Carmichael.
and
Phillis L. Berry, “A Living Legacy: Amy Carmichael and the Origin of the Dohnavur Fellowship,” Mission Frontiers, January 1, 1999. https://web.archive.org/web/20140201121129/http://www.missionfrontiers.org/issue/article/a-living-legacy.
