Pastor Alex Adegboye
TEXTS Rom 9:28-32; Acts 2:1-4
Many people run foul of God because they do not know His ways. In these days that we live, there are all kinds of charlatans who go about deceiving people about the ways of God because most people don’t know the ways of God.
Even though, we are talking about suddenly, God’s ways are slow. In your trials and tribulations, you must remember that God is not a hasty God. He is never a magician because He has His ways of doing things. When you see miracles that appear suddenly, it is as a result of a process. The ways of God were shown to Moses while the acts were seen by the children of Israel. This is very true considering the fact that the greater majority of people are only interested in receiving miracles without seeking the source. God does not expect us to be ignorant. The Bible was given to us to dispel every form of ignorance.
You must know that God works intelligently. He doesn’t just do things any how. He has a due process for the things that He does. He starts slowly, proceeds surely and then manifests suddenly. That is His way in the whirlwind of this life.
Proverbs 6:6-8 says, “Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.”
God works and He is telling us to consider the ways of ants and be wise. If you do not work or sow, there will be nothing to harvest. God works suddenly but those suddenlies are predicated on certain principles and due processes. When it is harvest it will look like it is sudden but then, there was a time it was slow, it became sure before it happened suddenly.
Rom 9:28 says, “For He will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.”
Any work God starts He finishes. God is not in the business of abandonment. He cuts it short to make it quick. The story of Abraham is a good example. God gave him a promise and it seemed as though it will never come to pass for a long time coming. But in the 24th year, God showed up and cut it short. Sarah became pregnant even at old age and gave birth to the promised child – Isaac.
Acts 2:2 says, “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.”
The promise that was made over a thousand years earlier came to pass suddenly and the Bible makes us understand that it happened when the day of Pentecost was fully come. God was working behind the scenes. God was working the annals of time while also watching and waiting for the day of Pentecost to come. Once the day came, he acted suddenly as He cuts it short in righteousness.
The set time to favour Zion is now according to Ps 102:13. How do we know it is now? The Bible says in Zech 10:1, “Ask ye of the Lord for rain in the time of rain… ” So, ask for favour in the time of favour; ask for prosperity in the time of prosperity. The time to ask is now and you can expect it to happen suddenly when we do not expect.
I believe that many of the great things God will do in our lives will come suddenly upon us. If we will only set the due process in motion. If we can only begin and not give up. It is sure to manifest if we keep at it. It will happen unexpectedly.
Let us consider the circumstances that surrounded Pentecost:
- It was the right time. Ecc 9:12.
- They were in one accord.
- They were at the right place in the upper room.
- They were with the right people. 1 Cor 15:33, Phil 3:17, Ephe 5:11.
- They obeyed. Living in obedience sets you up for a suddenly. Deut 8:1.
- They continued in prayer. Col 4:2, Ephe 6:18.
This issue that I am sharing with you has proven to be a stumbling block unto many, but it doesn’t have to be with us. As a matter of fact, it should be a stepping stone upon which our faith and trust in the unchanging God arises. Many people stumbled in the wilderness having not learned the ways of God. If you’re in haste with God you will run into problems.
This is the way of God that we know. The average Christian is in desperate need of a breakthrough and they are not interested in learning the ways of God. They change lanes too soon. This generation of Christians want their miracles in a hurry just as we can watch the world news in two minutes. But God is not like that!
Those that walk with God are actually patient people. Those who will walk with God, who want to obtain results at the end of life’s journey, must be patient. You must know that these are the ways of God if you will succeed as a Christian. God works slowly, surely and suddenly. Glory be to God!
