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“I am the Alpha and the Omega,”
says the Lord God,
“who is and who was and who is to come,
the Almighty.”
Revelation 1:8 ESV
Have you ever thought about what some of the ramifications of the fact that GOD is eternal are? We are studying about GOD’s attributes (the ones that aren’t at all like human ones…the incommunicable attributes.) The book we are using to guide our study is None like Him by Jen Wilkins.
Of course, GOD is not limited by time because He is eternal. This also affects the way He answers prayer! Because He is not limited by time, He doesn’t look at answers to prayer in the same way we do. He has a longer view of things. He is doesn’t just look through the same time frame we do. His grid is not limited that way. It is eternal. It is not limited by our lifetimes, or our generation. When I stop and think about it, it can be a bit mind blowing. When I pray to ask GOD for a husband or child it will will affect future generations! It’s pretty amazing…but it also can cause me to get impatient.
But do not overlook this one fact, beloved,
that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years,
and a thousand years as one day.
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness,
but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish,
but that all should reach repentance.II Peter 3:8-9 ESV
With GOD’s eternal perspective, His view on time and time deadlines is quite different than our human ones.
Why isn’t He answering my prayer…now? His perspective on time is quite different for sure. Because He is eternal, His timetable is very different than ours. This can be a very good thing for us. His plans are much bigger than our generation or our lifetime. That is fantastic. His answers are not just limited to our culture or generation. They include much more than that. As trends come and go, we can be glad that this is true.
Another benefit of His being eternal is that it affects our view of the present. The present is where we are to live. But how often do we find ourselves either living longingly in the past, wishing we could be back in “the good old days” that weren’t as good as we remember them. When we live there sinfully, we fail to appreciate the present and what GOD has given us today.
Another area we fail in is living in the future, wishing we could be in the next stage of life. When we are teen-agers, we want to be in college, then we want to be married, and on it goes. In the process, we fail to enjoy the present that GOD has given us because of our covetousness for the next stage of life.
Living in the present means making the best use of our time. We don’t have to work all the time, nor do we need to be lazy. Our place is somewhere in between. We need to redeem the time that GOD has given us. We aren’t to work at the expense of relationships nor are we to be lazy. But we are to use the gifts GOD has given us to work for His eternal glory.
Walk in wisdom toward outsiders,
making the best use of the time.
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt,
so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.Colossians 4:5-6 ESV
