N.O.W.
By Elin Henderson
“…‘NOW I will arise,’ says the LORD; ‘I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.’”
Psalm 12:5b (NKJV)
Sometimes I wish that there was a fast-forward button for God’s plans for my life, or the lives of my loved ones. We are all desperately yearning for His work and timing, but it seems slow in coming. Everything within us cries, “NOW!” I need safety NOW! I need judgment NOW! It seems that while we press for fast-forward, He puts everything in slow motion.
In Psalms 12 and 13, the writer David was really feeling the time crunch, as it seemed that the only ones making any headway were the wicked! Justice was not being served and, if anything, the “bad guys” were triumphing. We fail to remember that His NOW is Not Our Worry.
Specifically in Psalm 13, David asks repeatedly “How long?...How long?...” four times in a row. God is not idly sitting around, but He has a master plan and that “HOW long?” will soon become “long enough.” And when the time is right, that HOW becomes NOW! He will arise and true justice will be served!
The problem for us is the in-between time. We soon forget that God has a NOW for us and it is Not Our Worry! We may not know when or how, but the “how longs” are coming to an end and the “now” is just around the corner.
For me, this is a real encouragement. There are so many times in life that it seems like God is a little behind in His justice plan. We see evil happening right and left and it seems like everyone is getting away with it. Whether we are waiting for true judgment, rescue, protection, direction, we can rest assured that it is Not Our Worry but when His NOW finally arrives He will arise, serve justice, rescue and will give us the safety we yearn for in Himself!! And when the NOW finally arrives, we can rejoice and sing like David in Psalms 20:6, “NOW I know the Lord saves His anointed!”
GOING DEEPER:
1. Are you dealing with any personal, family or other crisis in which God seems to be behind schedule according to your timetable? How can you apply the acronym N.O.W. and find peace and rest, knowing that He is at work and NOW is just around the corner?
2. Have you had any HOWs become NOWs lately? Share them with a friend who is waiting on her NOW!
FURTHER READING:
Job 42:12; Psalms 27:13
Oakwood’s missionaries Elin Henderson and her husband Phil serve as church planters with New Tribes in Mozambique, Africa. Elin is mother to eleven-year-old Callie and eight-year-old Elias.
