"God, In a Hurry"
A proper Biblical understanding of God suggests He never gets in a hurry. His omniscience and foreknowledge leads Him to act with eternally calculated and reasoned responses to everything that happens in His creation.
"His understanding is infinite" (Psalm 147:5).
"God… worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" (Ephesians 1:3; 11).
On at least two occasions in the Bible, however, we see either directly or by implication our Heavenly Father rushing to reveal redemptive realities of His grace and truth in the Lord Jesus Christ.
"And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him" (Luke 15:20).
"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting" (Acts 2:1-2).
First, the prodigal son's father, typifying God the Father, raced to meet his wayward son who returned in broken repentance. The father hurried with mercy, forgiveness, and restoration. Moreover, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit approached the company of believers as a "rushing mighty wind." He hastened to indwell the hearts of those who waited for "the promise of the Father" (Acts 1:4). The dual imagery shines with our Lord's inclinations of grace. God hurries to forgive. He rushes to indwell the beloved spirits of those born again through faith in Christ. Indeed, He loves human hearts so dearly that "He delighteth in mercy" and desires to be so near to us that He dwells within us (Micah 7:18; I Corinthians 3:16).
We do well to perceive God as never caught off guard by anything that ever happens. As A.W. Tozer once wrote, "The Lord sees the flutter of an angel's wing a thousand years hence as if it were happening in the present moment." However, we also do well to consider our Heavenly Father's heart when it comes to administering His loving grace and mercy. We never have to drag forgiveness from the heart of God if we come by the way He has made through the Lord Jesus. He stands ever ready to pardon and cleanse. He also loves our hearts to the degree that only dwelling within them satisfies His devotion to us. God, God in a hurry. A racing father and a rushing Spirit bear witness on the pages of Scripture to the haste our Father exercises when opportunities to bestow grace present themselves to His wondrous heart.
"For Thou, Lord, art ready to forgive and plenteous in mercy unto all that call upon Thee."
(Psalm 86:5)
"I will dwell in them and walk in them."
(II Corinthians 6:16)
Weekly Memory Verse
"Be sober, be vigilant because your adversary the devil walketh about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."
(I Peter 5:8)
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