Gods Timely Ticket

       

Casper Ten Boom was widely known as the best watch repairman in Holland and people came from all over the Netherlands to have him repair their watches.  To make sure that he set accurate time on the watches after repair, Casper kept his own watch accurate. In Amsterdam there was a clock that was always accurate. Casper would go there once in a while to check the accuracy of his watch. He always travelled with his young daughter Corrie.

When Corrie was a young girl, a baby in their neighborhood died. As was the custom of the day, the little body was laid in a casket in the family's living room for two days while neighbors, friends, and family came to visit and grieve with the young parents. Corrie accompanied her mother and older sister to visit the family, and was struck with fear as the reality of death was imprinted on her in that moment.

Corrie had a difficult time dealing with the fact that her father would die one day. When her father came to tuck her in bed that night, she burst into tears, she sobbed. “You can’t die! You can’t!” “Corrie,” her father said gently, “when you and I go to Amsterdam, when do I give you your ticket?” Corrie said “Why, just before we get on the train”. “Exactly” her father said. “Our wise father in heaven knows when we are going to need things, too. Don’t run out ahead of him, Corrie. When the time comes that some of us will have to die, you will look into your heart and find the strength you need—just in time.”

Years later Corrie, along with her father and sister, created a safe haven for Jews in Holland during World War II. One day they were all arrested and detained in a concentration camp. Her father died in the camp a few days later. Corrie and her sister were later transferred to Ravensbruck, the worst concentration camp in the world. Despite the horrors they faced they held onto their faith. Corrie learnt that God gives her strength at the exact moment when she needs it and not before (The Hiding Place, by corrie Ten Boom).

Psalm 37 was written by David in the crucible of his life. David wrote “the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and He delights in his way. Though he falls, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand (Ps. 37:23-24 NKJV). The living Bible puts it this way, “the Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives; though they stumble they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand” (Ps. 37: 23-24 NLT).

God not only “directs” our steps (Prov.3:6, 16:9), he also orders our steps. This includes our going out and our coming in (Ps. 121:8). Nothing ever happens to the child of God by chance or fate. No circumstance whether good or bad can come to us apart from God’s determined purpose for us. Because he is God, there are no accidents with him. You’ll have good days and bad days. Some of your dreams will come true, some they will not. But if you are good, know this: your steps are “ordered” by the Lord.

When the Israelites were going to the Promised Land the cloudy pillar would move and then stop. Sometimes it moved when they would have loved to stay longer possibly near an oasis. Sometimes it stopped too long in an unpleasant place. Sometimes it directed them through a longer route even though there was a shorter route (Exodus 13: 17-22). But whatever the cloud commanded, they were safest right in the center of God’s will. It was safest to obey his directions.

Our task is to obey the Lord each day and leave the future to him. God knows each winding way we take. The Christian’s path of life is never an unbroken straight line to heaven. There will be steps and stops of life. When God tells us to stop, we can complain and argue how much we need to be in the ‘go’ position. Or we can just wait, with a growing trust that he does all things well” (Mark 7:37).

The last part of verse 23 says, “And he delights in his way.” The “he” refers to God and the “his” refers to the individual believer.” Notice how closely involved God is in his children’s experience: “He delights in every detail of their lives” (v. 23 NLT). Verse 31 adds, “The law of their God is in their hearts; their feet do not slip”. He also cares deeply about every moment they live.

Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the Lord upholds him with His hand. If you fall headlong into a deep pit, when you finally hit bottom, you won’t dust yourself off and keep on going. You have been “utterly destroyed.” God promises that will not happen to his children. Though they may face desperate, life-changing circumstances, God will not allow them to be utterly destroyed.

He upholds us with his mighty hand. Think of a father walking along with his young son by his side. There are two ways father and son might hold hands. The young boy may reach up with his tiny hand to grasp his father’s huge hand. That works until the child stumbles and he is forced to let go of his father’s hand. But if the father places his huge hand around his son’s tiny hand, the boy is safe no matter what happens. He may stumble but the father’s hand “upholds” him.

The “fall” may be a fall into trouble or it may be a fall into moral sin. A good man may fall into trouble. Job was stripped of everything; Joseph was put in prison; Jonah was cast to the depth of the ocean. Tough times can cause us to get our perspective turned around. Tragedies in life make us feel like giving up and crumbling to the ground. But God is there to hold us up.

A good man may fall into sin. Noah one of the most righteous men in his days (Ezek. 14:14), got drunk and exposed himself to his sons (Gen 9:21). Abraham the only person in the Bible given the title “my friend” by God (Isa. 41:8) lied about his wife Sarah twice (Gen. 20:2). David the man after God’s own heart (1 Sam 13:14) committed adultery with Bathsheba and had Uriah murdered.

These stories are in the Bible to teach us that even the best men under pressure can do very foolish things. No one is beyond the reach of temptation. Very godly people can make some very wrong choices and suffer greatly as a result. The Bible shows this to us lest we are tempted to ever say, “I’m beyond that temptation. You don’t know what you’re “beyond.”

Micah 7:8 says “Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; when I fall, I will arise; when I sit in darkness, The LORD will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against Him, until He pleads my case”. Micah spoke for those brought low by sin. In spite of their humiliation, he warned their enemies to not rejoice over their condition because it was temporary.

Jesus said to Peter on the night before he was crucified: “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail.” (Luke 22:31-32). Jesus said this just before Peter made his promise of unending faithfulness and before Peter denied him (Luke 22:55-62). The point is, Jesus saw it all coming, he knew everything before it took place.

He didn’t stop Peter from denying him. He let matters take their natural course, but he prayed for Peter, knowing that Peter at heart was a good man who loved him. Jesus allowed Peter to fall away, knowing that through his prayers, Peter would eventually return, humbled by his failure, ready to serve the Lord with a humility born of painful failure

The Bible says “though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity” (Proverbs 24:16). We may fall again and again, trouble may come again and again. But, it is the Lord’s purpose that we should rise again and again. Psalm 145:14 declares that, “The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.”

God’s hand that holds the ocean’s depths can hold our small affairs; His hand that guides the Universe can carry all our cares. God is at work in our trials and in our falls in a way we never dreamed, never knew, and never saw at the time. Nothing is wasted with God. All things truly do “work together” for our good and for God’s glory, even though we rarely see that in advance.

God is closest to you when you struggle because that is when you need him most. He will not put you in an unbearable situation. But, he may put you in a situation that seems unbearable. For a while, it may seem as if you have  been be utterly cast down but God will catch you by the hand and raise you again; underneath are the everlasting arm (Deut 33:27).

The psalmist says “my soul follows close behind you; your right hand upholds me”( Psalm 63:8).A good man may be brought on his knees but he shall not be utterly cast down.  No child of God will fall finally or fatally because God will not let go. Sorrow may bring us to the earth and death may bring us to the grave, but we cannot sink lower than that; out of the lowest of all falls we shall arise to the highest of all. 

When you fall, remember this: God never intends you to stay down forever. He intends for you to “rise up” and keep on walking with him. There is something worse than falling down, it is staying down. Where grace does not keep from going down, it shall save from keeping down. Job had double wealth at last, Joseph reigned over Egypt and Jonah safely landed on the dry land of Nineveh.

Whenever we hear about tragedies, we imagine our worst fears coming true. How can we possibly have the strength to face them? When we imagine going through it based on our limited strength we only get stuck in a cycle of worry. God has not given us the strength for that moment yet. There is no grace for the imagination. And, God does not give his strength in advance but only when needed.