You must remember that God at no time is never doing nothing in your life
When you and I go to the Lord in prayer and ask Him for some need and we feel we have the assurance that God is going to do what we have asked Him to do – we become joyous and confident. Then it appears that God doesn’t do anything, and there is this long period of silence. So we say, “God I know what You have said, and I know the assurance I felt in my heart. Why aren’t You doing something?” This is what is called God’s Gaps. He may give us a little indication of what He’s going to do – and then He stretches the time and nothing seems to be going on. What are we to do when God creates those gaps in our lives?
Sometimes these silent periods are short and sometimes they stretch over weeks and months and even into years. We find ourselves trying to figure out what God is doing and we speculate and ask, “Did I hear you right?” One of the most important lessons we have to learn is not to try to fill in those gaps God has created in our lives. You have heard it said, “God helps those who help themselves”. That is not biblical. In reality God helps unravel the mess we get into when we try to help God do what He is trying to do in our lives.
As time stretches on, we wonder why the waiting.
- Sometimes God is preparing us for the answer
- And sometimes He is preparing the minds and lives of others who are involved in the answer
- And sometimes it is a test of faith – a time to grow up in our faith – God stretches time to teach us that if He says He will do something, He will do it. The “how” and the “when” are in His hands; they are His responsibility.
- At other times God is trying to get our attention that we are heading in the wrong direction. Sin in our lives is hindering God from working.
Even in God’s gaps, you must remember that God at no time is never doing nothing in your life. He is always doing something, and because you and I cannot see it happening does not mean that God is not at work in our lives. But if you are like me.God’s gaps have found me getting tired of waiting on the Lord and then charging in to accomplish what God had already said He would do. And I always mess things up! And then I have to back up, confess, and repent of my intrusion upon the plan of God. I’m sure you remember that God promised Abram and his wife Sarai a son. Then the God gap occurred. Years went by. Finally Abram stepped in and fathered a son through Sarai’s handmaiden. How did that turn out? He was trying to help God out. Ah, but eventually God did open Sarai’s womb and she birthed Isaac while in her nineties. Isaac, their son, became the father of the Israelites. God didn’t need Abraham’s help. The God gap was of His doing. But the offspring of Abram’s help was Ishmael – the father of the Arab nations. And we are still seeing that mess affecting the world landscape today.
In Abram’s day it was shameful if a wife could not produce a son – an heir. There was so much pressure put on Abram and Sarai.yet God had promised. We have to understand that God establishes these gaps in our lives to bless us – never to deprive us of anything we should have.
There are many reasons we are tempted to fill in God’s gaps (1) We are encouraged by others. Abraham went along with Sarai’s plan. Are we following others or are we following God? (2) It appears to be the logical, reasonable, and rational thing to do. Having children by handmaidens was acceptable in that day. Yet God’s ways are often illogical, unreasonable, and irrational in the eyes of people. (3) We doubt what God has said to us. So we manipulate our circumstances. But that doesn’t move God to close the gap. It may cause Him to extend the gap.
God always reserves His best for those who are willing to wait – even when they see nothing happening. A friend of mind, Frances, waited on God to save her husband for 40 years. When God finally closed that gap, her husband was gloriously saved and became a strong follower of Christ. So I ask you, “Do you want God’s best? Are you willing to wait?” Walk in simple, childlike faith and obedience to a loving Father who is the Author of gaps which you dare not fill on your own initiative.
Pastor Steve