A Cost To Jumping The Gun?

Is there a price to pay when we get out ahead of where we are supposed to be?  I mean, especially when we are talking of the will of God.  If there is, just how costly is it?  Let's take a look at an example in the Word of God and see if we can gain some understanding.

Moses. Yep, that's right. I love to read about Moses. He inspires me, challenges me and encourages me.  He mostly encourages me by being real. He debates with God.  His anger flared. He hesitated.  He stood in the gap.  He met with God...and he met with God...and he met with God. He was real.  And God continued to use him.  In fact, God continued to use him...even though he stepped out of God's will and jumped the gun!

Look back in Gen. 15:13 with me.  God prophesied to Abram that his descendants were going to be enslaved for 400 years.  Now look at Ex.12:40  What happened?!  It says here that they were enslaved for 430 years!  How can that be?  You see, the fulfillment of prophecy is contingent upon the actions and obedience of the person.

Moses knew the will of God for his life (Acts 7:25) that he was to deliver them from this bondage of slavery, but...he decided when it was time.  He jumped the gun by 10 years!  What was the result of this decision?  Moses spent the next 40 years in the desert herding sheep and the children of God had to wait an additional 30 years to be set free!  Whew!  I don't know about you, but, I need to take a few moments to let that digest.

There's a lot we can learn here.  I don't know what is first or which is worse.  That as a result of my getting out in front of God, jumping out of His perfect will, and designing my own...I find myself floundering around in a "just okay" area rather than the best place...which is the center of His will.  That place that is the safest, most enjoyable and contented place to be in all the world.  I know...I've experienced both.  I guarantee you the best is the latter of the two.

And don't forget that it cost him 40 years. It causes me to wonder, in waiting the 10 years, if Moses might have been more confident in facing Pharaoh rather than arguing with God that he wasn't good with speech and who would believe him and so on.  Because he would have stepped right from his position in the household of Pharaoh where he had been groomed well.  I think he would have carried himself better than as one stepping off the plains smelling like sheep and wouldn't have felt like he needed a side-kick for support.   After all, it was Moses God had called.  Just a thought.

Something else that jumps out to us when we totally miss God's timing and plan...is that it affects others.  In this case, severely. These people were slaves. The Egyptians made their lives bitter with hard labor.  They were beaten and killed in order to keep them in line.  That's a steep price.

Do you see the will of God for your life and yet wonder...when God when?  Let me caution you to think deeply before jumping out and bringing it on on your own. Besides, do you really want to wait an extra year or 5 or 10 or...for it to come to pass.  And we must consider how it will touch the lives that are close around us.  What will it cost them?

Take the time to discover how God wants to accomplish His will through you.  You can't speed up the things of God...but, you certainly can delay them! You haven't messed anything up so bad that God can't turn it around. We serve a Mighty God!  One Who is Sovereign! If you humble yourself and ask for His leading, He'll get you back on track...today!