A good coach doesn’t take green players and throw them at an opposing team. He puts them through workouts, making sure the practice plays are tougher than the players will ever battle in a real game, in order that the victory might seem easy in comparison.
When the green players have learned to anticipate any moves that might be made against them, then they are primed for victory against all comers.
Our God does the same for us.
When we first come to him, he fills us with his power, and we are all derring-do and bravado, ready to tackle the evil one. We see the missionaries on the field, and we want to be on par with them. We feel the Billy Graham well up in us, and we want to slay our ten-thousands in the name of the Lord.
However, we are still green and inexperienced. Without time to learn the wiles of the enemy, we cannot know the potholes we will stumble into. We also do not know how to climb back out once we do.
God needs to prime us for his victory.
40 seems to be God’s number in preparing us for success. It is the time he puts us on hold, in order that he might equip us to meet the enemy. Noah waited 40 days after it rained before opening the windows of the ark. Moses was with God on the mountain for 40 days. The spies searched the Promised Land for 40 days. The strength of one meal lasted Elijah for 40 days. Nineveh had 40 days to repent of her sins. Jesus fasted for 40 days, then remained on the earth for an additional 40 days after his resurrection.
Then there was that pesky giant, Goliath. 1 Samuel 17:16 tells us Goliath taunted Saul morning and evening for 40 days.
Why did the God of Jacob allow this? The reason is simple. God had to give David time to get to the battlefield. Only then could the Israelites receive their victory. It was David’s childlike faith in the power of God that primed Israel's Season of Victory, crushing the enemy with a single stone.
When we feel our prayers have gone unanswered, and God seems to have forgotten his promises to us, he is simply priming us for our victory lap.
Copyright © 2013 MyChurchNotes.net
Code: FGO.I.10.13.vp