Gnorb.NET

All in God’s time.
It’ll happen in God’s time.
Don’t try to rush it. It’ll happen in God’s time.

I can’t even begin to count how many times I’ve heard people say that, or something the like. Unfortunately, most of the time it’s said in a knowingly joyful, but disappointed tone, and usually used as a cop-out excuse for why something hasn’t quite happened the way we wanted, or with the speed we wanted. Your business not growing as fast as you want? “All in God’s time.” Your band not taking off yet? “It’ll happen in God’s time.”

This is all well and good if you want to place emphasis on Galatians 6:9, “So let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up, or quit.” (New Living Translation)

But looking at Luke 1:19-20, I think we get a glimpse of something that maybe most people miss: God’s time isn’t attached to any sort of clock or watch, but rather to certain actions. Check out this passage from Luke to see what I mean.  

Luke 1: 5-20:

(5) During the rule of Herod, King of Judea, there was a priest assigned service in the regiment of Abijah. His name was Zachariah. His wife was descended from the daughters of Aaron. Her name was Elizabeth. (6) Together they lived honorably before God, careful in keeping to the ways of the commandments and enjoying a clear conscience before God. (7) But they were childless because Elizabeth could never conceive, and now they were quite old.

(8) It so happened that as Zachariah was carrying out his priestly duties before God, working the shift assigned to his regiment, (9) it came his one turn in life to enter the sanctuary of God and burn incense. (10) The congregation was gathered and praying outside the Temple at the hour of the incense offering. (11) Unannounced, an angel of God appeared just to the right of the altar of incense. (12) Zachariah was paralyzed in fear. (13) But the angel reassured him, “Don’t fear, Zachariah. Your prayer has been heard. Elizabeth, your wife, will bear a son by you. You are to name him John. (14) You’re going to leap like a gazelle for joy, and not only you - many will delight in his birth.

(15) He’ll achieve great stature with God.

(16) He will turn many sons and daughters of Israel back to their God.

(17) He will herald God’s arrival in the style and strength of Elijah, soften the hearts of parents to children, and kindle devout understanding among hardened skeptics - he’ll get the people ready for God.”

(18) Zachariah said to the angel, “Do you expect me to believe this? I’m an old man and my wife is an old woman.”

(19) But the angel said, “I am Gabriel, the sentinel of God, sent especially to bring you this glad news. (20) But because you won’t believe me, you’ll be unable to say a word until the day of your son’s birth. Every word I’ve spoken to you will come true on time - God’s time.“

(Note: Emphasis added for clarity. Also, I chose this particular translation, The Message, due to the clarity with which this statement is made. Other versions illustrate this point, but not quite as transparently.)

I was talking to my wife this evening, driving back from presenting a business plan to a prospective partner. During the course of our conversation, I said to her “God has a number of plans He set forth as the amount we had to show before we reach our goals. Our job is to go as fast as possible through those plans, and to grow accordingly so that we can recognize the gold nuggets He drops in front of us along the way.”

“Oh,” she said. “I never really thought about it that way.”

“That’s what I believe is meant by the expression ‘in God’s time.’ That it’ll happen isn’t the question. It will happen. The question is when, and that’s determined, in large part, by our actions. The faster we move through the motions, the faster the event will occur.”

For us, it’s a matter of a month, day and hour. But the Almighty’s watch doesn’t measure when something is going to happen. It measures time by events: one event opens the way for another to happen in accordance to the environment around it. Think about it: a fourth dimensional being that doesn’t measure time, and that always is, was, and ever will be — how does He determine when something will happen? He doesn’t, at least not by the ‘month, day, hour’ format we’re used to. That something will happen isn’t the question. Events in our lives are like a combination lock: a certain set of events will produce this outcome. It’s our job to find the right combo. Problem is we’re always playing with the lock, whether we want to or not. And like in the old TV show, Let’s Make a Deal, the actions we choose will determine whether we get the house behind door number one, the car behind door number two, or the donkey behind door number three.

Side note: This might be why Jesus himself didn’t know when He would return. “However, no one knows the day or the hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.” (Mt. 24:36, New Living Translation) This is just speculation, however, but it would explain why trying to measure the time when certain things would happen is essentially useless. (Of course, if you ever want to know when Christ will return, simply ask an American televangelist.)

He measures ‘time’ by a pre-defined set of events that have to occur in order for something to happen, a bit like the the combination to a safe. That’s why when we sin and stray from his will, we keep from unlocking the true potential of blessings we could receive.

Now that I think about it, this might also begin to settle the entire Free will / Pre-determinism debate as merely two different ways to see the same equation, a bit like the different ways in which one can view M-Theory. Free will: yes, we can do what we want to. Pre-determinism: once something happens, no matter when it is, it will trigger the following event (cause and effect) , and we can choose any action or set of actions in order to get there. (Of course, if someone has missed a “golden opportunity” because things didn’t go just right, you can quote them Galatians 6:9, and remind them that both the good and bad news is that they can do only what they can do.)

This is a subject that needs more careful attention and consideration. I’ll stop here for now, but expect me to expand on it later on. But the next time you hear someone say “This will happen in God’s time,” you can stop and ask: “Is it really God’s time I’m waiting for, or am I the one slowing down the process?”

Note: This post was transported over from the first version of Gnorb.NET, which ran on bBlog. The following are comments which were made during this time.

Chris
Hi Norb

That was an awesome post! I never thought about “God’s time” in that way. Definitely something to keep in mind for future reference.

Gnorb
Thanks, Chris. Believe it or not, the whole “Pre-determinism vs. free will” thing has been something I’ve been thiking about since I was about 15. (I guess that’s when it really hit me that “hey, these ideas seem to conflict…” Blame it on “Zeno’s paradox”.) That was about the time I started to get into quantum mechanics and eventually string theory. (By the way, there’s a GREAT set of shows on superstring theory at PBS’s The Elegant Universe website. You can also check out Brian Greene’s Book, The Elegant Universe, which I highly recommend reading.) My faith says that “God knows everything,” but if that’s the case, do you have free will? I guess I’ve been trying to reconcile that for years, and I think I might publish my entire set of ideas on that here (unless I can, by some strange twist of fate, get a publication to pay me for writing it. It would probably end up spanning a short book, and a year or so of hard core research).

Justin
Hey Norb,
how ya doin’?
Anyhoo, just regarding your thought of God knows all, so how do we reconcile that with free will.

I think you need to revise that. God has the ability to know all. He is all powerful, and the source of all wisdom. But it’s selling him short to not believe he can control his abilities of fore-knowing. I read an illustration: if you were extremely strong, the strongest man on the planet (like me :P), would you feel the need to lift every object you saw? No, because you can control your abilities. Similarly, God can control his abilities to the proper degree, giving us free will, the ability to make choices independant of his control.

Gnorb
Hmm… Interesting, Justin. Here’s the problem with that, at least in so far as the Holy Bible is concerned: God never once claims He knows what you are going to do. He always give you the freedom of choice. He does, however, know exactly what will happen if X happens, rather than Y, for example. Likely, he also knows what are the possibilities of you taking a certain action. Take the story of Adam and Eve, for example. Did God know Adam was going follow Eve and eat the fruit? Maybe. but in the end, was it not Adam’s choice whether or not to do so? What about Samson? What about Jesus, would he have been tempted in the desert if it was common knowledge that there wasn’t a free will, but rather a predetermined set of actions? The truth is that thre are indeed a predetermined set of actions. But we have the choice of which of those actions to take. Cause, and Effect. Now, that’s not to say that God can’t put you where he needs you to be. If you need to be somewhere, see something, interact with someone — you’ll be there. Whether you accept the lesson presented theirin is up to you. In the end, My problem with strict predeterminism: well, I’m not sure that I can believe that God would create a person to in the end, damn them to Hell. Since salvation is available to all, wouldn’t that in itself run counter to predeterminism? It’s like saying “Ok, everyone here can be saved except you. Yeah, you in the back. I’m sorry but God said you’d have to go to Hell. I’m sorry, but that’s just the way things are.” The problem with humanity is that we try to understand the fullness of God, the universe, the cosmos — EVERYTHING — and in the process reduce Him down to a manageable level. “God created man. Then man returned the favor.” Sorry, but it doesn’t work that way. The creator of anything is greater than that which he has created. It’s like that old Hindi saying: “God is everything you can think of plus ten fingers more.” In the end, I think Einstein would be rolling over in his grave when I say the following: Although through creation God does not play dice, in the act of management, not only does he play, but the dice are loaded.

Justin
Like he said to the Israelites: ” place before you the blessing and the malediction”, and listed the consequences of both. I didn’t mean to say that he does know or even predetermine all eventualities. But he can see all possibilies.

Did he know Adam would follow Eve? Does it matter?

As for the whole Hell thing, that’s just one big source of confusion. While I do believe what the Bible says about his ways being untraceable, I also believe he reveals himself quite openly as the God of Love. 1 John 4:8 says He IS love. So, Hell. Is it eternal punishment for making the wrong choices with the free willl we’ve been given? No. That doesn’t mesh with the concept of love, or justice. Hell in Hebrew (She-ol) was just the grave, as is Hades in Greek. The Bible says Jesus was in Hell, and Job asked God to put him there.

So, I guess I’ve change topics slightly. But I have a point. This whole philisophical debate of predetermination can be rather pointless, and teaches us nothing, motivates us not at all. But knowing that God rewards good decisions, and meets wrong ones with punishment and at worst death (not eternal torment) gives us a far clearer picture of our creator, and can actually endear us to him; makes us want to please him.

1 Peter 3:9 says God is patient because he wants none to be destroyed but wishes all to repent and be saved. As I know you agree, it’s entirely up to us to take him up on the offer.

Gnorb

“I didn’t mean to say that he does know or even predetermine all eventualities. But he can see all possibilies.”

— I’m in total agreement with you on this one. Hence my statement,

“He does, however, know exactly what will happen if X happens, rather than Y, for example.”

— Now, as for your second (the “Jesus went to hell” statement, It’s not something I’ve thought about much, so to give an educated answer is a bit hard for me. I remember hearing that there was one passage which stated that Hell was not actually eternal, but that souls would there die, totally and absolutely. Still, I cannot go into that much. My point there was that I don’t believe that God created life for the soul purpose (no pun intended) of having it die (or burn in a lake of fire and brimstone, for that matter). But then again, I won’t insult the Almighty by presuming that I could understand all His ways and why He does what He does. When I go out and create a universe, I’m sure I’ll be in a better position to answer that question ;-).

This whole philisophical debate of predetermination can be rather pointless, and teaches us nothing, motivates us not at all.

— I disagree. It motivates me plenty to know that so long as I’m in his will, I can do all things to which He puts in me a dream for, and that even though I may be in the eye of the storm, provided I’m there in His will, what’s best will happen. It also helps me understand how God can take a horrible situation (sin) and use that for the achievement of His ultimate purpose, and helps me have greater hope to know that He can reach even those in the darkest corners of their despair. (This, by the way, both endears me to Him and makes me want to please him. He gave me an awesome brain and an incredible situation, the least I can do is pure hearted servitude and the use of my gifts to honor Him, no matter how flawed and inadequate I may be.) And in the end, it takes away a roadblock some people put up in their belief about God. “What — He knows everything? But what about free will? Oh no… my head hurts… and I can’t believe in God anymore…” It’s kinda like when people ask, “Hey, where’d that Cain boy get his wife from?” (Hey, did God ever say A & E were the ONLY humans created? Just saying…)

“As I know you agree, it’s entirely up to us to take him up on the offer.”

— Bingo.

Gnorb
To expand a bit on my comment, in regards to how understanding his purpose endearms me to him it’s like this: “Ok Lord, I’m with you. I’m walking the walk, talking the talk, and…” *pow — enter sin* Oh no… I’ve fallen from the path. Forgive me, God for not perfectly walking in your path.” That’s when he says, “Ok, fine. Looks like while you were busy with this sin, you missed on this blessing, but you’re forgiven. Now, let’s see here how we can get you back on the path. Ah, there we go!” And suddenly, we’re back on the ball and using what was once negative in an incredibly positive way. That’s when I’m saying “Whoa… Whoa… Who-ho-hoooaaa… Your son was perfect, and you… for me… whooooa…” What gets me is when people stay in that “whoa” stage, feel that they have to be in Church every minute the doors are open, and never actually do anything to spread the Good News. It’s like getting a bunch of knowledge, and instead of being a river, being like the Dead Sea, where water comes in, but nothing ever flows out. For the Love of God, go out and do something! I love them and all, but… Anyhow, that was the end of my rant there. Sorry about that. It has almost nothing to do with the subject, but what the heck.

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