This morning we continue our series entitled, “Refined Focus”, with an emphasis on “Focusing on God’s Finished Work”. We have looked at Romans 4 and Ecclesiastes 3:15 for days. Let’s go back to them one last time with a message entitled, “Relating to an eternal God”.
The Bible says:
“I have made you a father of many nations.” This is true before God, the one Abraham believed—the God who gives life to the dead and who calls those things that are not as though they are.
There was no hope that Abraham would have children, but Abraham believed God and continued to hope. And that is why he became the father of many nations. As God told him, “You will have many descendants.” Abraham was almost a hundred years old, so he was past the age for having children. Also, Sarah could not have children. Abraham was well aware of this, but his faith in God never became weak. He never doubted that God would do what he promised. He never stopped believing. In fact, he grew stronger in his faith and just praised God. Abraham felt sure that God was able to do what he promised.” (Romans 4:16-21)
“That which is has already been, and that which will be has already been, for God seeks what has passed by [so that history repeats itself].” (Ecc 3:15).
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. God speaks to us from the position of what I call the “Eternal Now”.
a) When God speaks to us He has the benefit of knowing everything we will do before we do it and everything He will do before He does it. So when He speaks He does so from the position and perspective of eternity.
b) When Abraham was 75 years old and God told him that He would bless him, make his name great and make of him a great nation, I am sure Abraham was not thinking it was going to take 25 years for the promised baby to be born. 25 years is nothing to God. 1000 years are like one day to Him (Ps 90:4). So 25 years was like a blink of an eye. But to Abraham and Sarah, 25 years was a long time.
c) God will speak to you like it’s already done. For Him, in eternity, it actually is. For you, however, attempting to live out what God said or what He allowed you to see, it is most certainly a matter of time.
d) Every promise from God shall come to pass in the earth, in your life. They just may not happen on your schedule. Living by faith means you set your watch of expectation to God’s clock of manifestation.
2. God reveals glimpses of eternity to us in time so that we live our lives out (in time) with a focus on the eternal.
a) We have been looking at Ecclesiastes 3:15 for a few weeks now. Allow me to back up to verse 11 of the same chapter. In verse 11 the Lord said the following through Solomon: “God has made everything beautiful and appropriate in its time. He has also planted eternity [a sense of divine purpose] in the human heart [a mysterious longing which nothing under the sun can satisfy, except God]—yet man cannot find out (comprehend, grasp) what God has done (His overall plan) from the beginning to the end.” (Ecc 3:11 AMP).
b) God plants glimpses of eternity in men’s hearts (in time), so that we can live our lives in the present with an expectation of the things to come.
c) When God gives you a glimpse of eternity (in time), the Bible says that the glimpse creates an inner “sense of divine purpose”; “a mysterious longing which nothing under the sun can satisfy, except God.” For years Abraham and Sarah attempted to have children. They knew they were called. They knew their purpose was greater than what they were experiencing in the moment. They had an inner sense of divine purpose. They had a longing that could not be satisfied by anything but God’s best. Guess what? This is how God expects us to live every day. This is how finite beings relate to an eternal God.
d) You may be saying, “Rick, you are describing me! God has given me glimpses of my future. I have an inner sense of divine purpose. I have a longing in my heart that cannot be satisfied by anything less than what God has revealed to me. But I sometimes get frustrated, because what I am seeing in this world does not line up with what God has allowed me to see in my heart.” If that’s you this morning, rest assured, you are not alone. You are simply describing the life of faith. God wants you to live IN-SYNC with what He has revealed to you, even if it means you seem OUT-OF-SYNC with the things that are happening in your life in the present. For God it’s already done. For you, it is only a matter of time!
Closing Confession: Father, this has been a season of refined focus for me. You have taught me to live my life by every Word You speak to me and every glimpse of my future You allow me to see. You have already seen my future and You spoke to me from eternity. You have planted eternity in my heart, in time, and I now live with an inner sense of divine purpose. I will not be satisfied until I see IN MY HANDS, here in the earth, what You have revealed to me IN MY HEART, from the position of the Eternal Now. For You it’s already done. For me, it is only a matter of time. I will never give up. I will never quit. I will never throw in the towel. I will never be satisfied until Your will is done in my life on earth, as it is in heaven! I declare this by faith! In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
