When God Presses Pause

Have you ever felt as though you were making great progress toward your promised land, than all of a sudden God pressed pause? I've learned that though the promised land is ready for us, we are not always ready for it. God presses pause to make the final preparations needed within us.

Patience is a key determining factor to the length of your pause. The longer you can allow God to perfect you, the better prepared you will be. Some personality styles have more patience than others. Moses was the meekest man on earth, and had a forty year pause. The apostle Paul, not a very meek man, had a three day pause. Consequently Moses had his seas parted, while Paul had to endure ship wreck. Both accomplished their mission, but by two very different ways. One had his way paved by the glory of God, and the other was persecuted, beaten, had physical infirmaries, and died in prison. I'm not saying that you need to be Moses, but you might want to at least find a middle ground.

Five Wise Virgins

 In Matthew 25 1:13, Jesus told a parable of ten bride’s maids. Of the ten, five were wise and five were foolish. The wise planned for the worse by taking extra oil for their lamps. The foolish did not plan ahead and only took what they needed at the moment. This may sound all a little confusing to you if I don’t explain the Jewish custom of that day. When a man proposed to marry, he would go away to build a home for he and his betrothed. When the home was ready, he would return for the wedding and to take his bride home. Back in our story, an announcement was made that the bridegroom was coming. So the wedding party was assembled and ready. In this particular instance however, it took longer for him to arrive. Now being the middle of the night, everyone fell asleep and their lamps burned out. When the groom finally arrived, the call was made to go out and meet him. The foolish maids then desperately asked the wise maids to share oil with them. The wise refused, knowing that no one's lamps would last long enough for the ceremony if they stretched the oil so thin. So the five ill prepared maids rushed back to the market to purchase more oil. When they returned, it was too late. The five well prepared maids refilled their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom and the doors to the ceremony were now shut.

An important lesson to learn from this story is that the foolish maids had the potential to buy more oil. They just did not value having more oil until they actually needed it. By then it was too late. Christians should not wait until they need more of God to get more of God. We have the potential now to draw close to Him. We should always have oil on reserve. We never know when our lamps will go out. It’s good to have a reserve of anointed experiences with Him to draw from in a time of need. 

The extra oil can also be seen as patience. The Lord paints masterpieces. When He’s working on something in your life, it’s best to let things unfold in His timing. It will often seem as though He has forgotten you, however, He is just momentarily delayed. It is amazing to see all the pieces fit together as the Lord reveals His work of art.

Written by - Mike Verdin