“All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” -John 1:3.
The Bible tells us that God created ALL things, and did so through His Son, Jesus Christ; see Colossians 1:12-17. We know by this that God can never be limited by His own creation apart from His own choosing, and He is faithful to the promises He gave us in the Bible.
“For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.” -Psalm 119:89.
“If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” -2 Timothy 2:13.
As believers in Christ, we know how important faith is, for without it we cannot please God (Hebrews 11:6). All of the while we remain here in the flesh we must pray and seek God diligently to expand and abolish any limitations to our faith; we NEED this, for the weaknesses of our flesh, and the contentions we get from the devil.
There may be many things we can point to that may limit our faith, and service to Christ, but I contend that the greatest single prohibitive factor is TIME. Please take a few moments to consider all of what we might accomplish, IF ONLY WE HAD MORE TIME. Many movies have had this as a theme, where a person goes back in time to the earlier days of his/her life, and gets a chance to change their “destiny” by making other choices. This, of course, can never really happen; yet GOD himself won't be limited by time.
“For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.” -Psalm 90:4.
“But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” -2 Peter 3:8.
These verses are meant to remind us that the Lord doesn't have time limitations at all! He is the one who made our days to be 24 hours, and He can alter that as He pleases (Joshua 10:12,13).
“And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees? And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees. And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.” -2 Kings 20:9-11.
Nothing, but nothing, is too hard for our God (Jeremiah 32:27). He rejoices in the chance to prove Himself for His people, for it brings glory to His name (Psalm 50:15). He urges us to pray always, and not faint; the Lord will surely answer in His time & way, and will not be too late.
Please consider when the Lord Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead; although He had been told of His friend's sickness, Jesus waited until he had actually been dead for 4 days before going to him. Was it too late? Remember the words Jesus had spoken to Martha a short while before this miracle;
“Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.” -John 11:21-27.
Notice the FAITH of Martha to declare that even after her brother's death, whatever Jesus prayed for, God would grant it! Notice that in the powerful response of Jesus, He reminds us that He is the resurrection, and all who believe this shall live, even if the body is dead! It's not too late for God to work for us in any situation, no matter what our physical senses may tell us;
“But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us.” -2 Corinthians 1:9,10.
And so I ask you today, what situations are you facing that seem hopeless because the time has run out for an answer? Have you stumbled badly in a relationship, or in an interaction, and it seems that now it is a lost cause? Remember that it isn't too late for God; it's probably just in the time He wanted;
“I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.” -Ecclesiastes 3:14.
Time itself is a burden for we limited humans, and so we must rely on the Lord, for whom time is His servant. This is a burden which will one day be lifted from us, and it is prophesied to be so; what a tremendous joy awaits God's people when this is finally fulfilled!
“And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.” - -Revelation 10:5-7.
There were 2 other occasions on which Jesus chose to raise the dead during His time on earth in the flesh; there was the young man from Nain (Luke 7:11-15), and also the daughter of Jairus, told of in both Luke 8 and Mark 5;
“While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further? As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe. And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James. And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue...and seeth... them that wept and wailed greatly. And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, ...and entereth in where the damsel was lying. And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years.” -from Mark 5:35-42.
God further promises that sometimes even before we ask, or while we're still speaking, that He will answer our petitions (Isaiah 65:24). Jesus also assures us that our Heavenly Father knows what we need before we ask, and discourages long prayers of repetition in Matthew 6:7&8. When we pray, it's as if we've hired a professional for our situation who already knows our case well, and His services are in process! If we will but only put the Lord's will first in our lives, Jesus has promised that all we need will be provided-even before we know what it is, or if it slips our mind to specifically ask.
I once heard a brother in Christ testify of a vision God gave him of Jesus on the cross-while he was driving on the highway. He said this vision couldn't have been more than 2-3 minutes, but when it finished he was at his destination; even though he was 90 minutes away when it started!
Time is what God wants it to be, and He has absolute power over all of creation. So bring your petitions to the Lord in confidence, knowing that no circumstance can deter Him; not even TIME.
“And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.” -Mark 10:27.
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