My pastor preached a message entitled, “Something is happening when Nothing happens”. It has to do with the very real instances when God has promised something that does not occur when we think it would, or should.
He used the illustration of buying tickets for a show online, paying the ever increasing ticket price along with the always exorbitant “handling fees, convenience fee, facility fee, and whatever else they decide to charge you because you can’t get these tickets anywhere else fees”, and arriving at your seat.
He talked about the journey you had to endure, coordinating with your “boo”, getting dressed, maybe arranging for childcare, and fighting traffic, to get to your seat on time.
And at that moment, appointed and promised by the ticket you purchased, you expect that curtain to rise, part, or otherwise open…because it’s Showtime!…and… nothing happens.
How long do you wait? Before you get a little anxious. Before you start looking for an usher for an explanation. Before you decide whether to leave or stay. Before you plot your lawsuit for money spent and the cruel infliction of emotional distress?
How long before you decide that because the curtain did not open, the show did not go on, that you are going to abandon this plan?
Of course the show does go on. Maybe it was “late” because of that very traffic you endured. Maybe others also were caught up in the traffic and the show operators decided to “hold the curtain” for a few more minutes to allow others to get in their seats.
Your experience would not be optimal if you were constantly interrupted by the folks coming in late.
But the pastor correctly pointed out, that before you heard of the show, before you bought a ticket and made plans and bought that outfit, before you did anything at all…there was something happening behind that curtain.
Writing, auditioning, casting, memorizing lines, rehearsing, staging, set work, lighting, audio and technical preparations take months to put a show together. Over the course of months of preparation, what is a few minutes to make it right?
What has God promised you? If He said it, He will make it good. He has already made plans, chosen people, trained them, set the stage and the atmosphere to create the very experience you say you want…and sometimes He waits. Sometimes for you, other times for others. Because He knows what you need and when you need it.
He understands that a few extra moments of waiting will mean nothing when you experience His promise fulfilled. We have to know that sometimes, God will “hold the curtain”.
So, how long will you wait? The closed curtain is a sign that something is happening out of your sight and without your knowledge. Faith says, “I have my ticket. I have God’s promise. The show must go on. So I will wait. I will stay in my seat and wait for the promise that came from Him.” You can wonder, and you can question, just don’t get out of your seat!
It’s Showtime!
Everyday God... 