Someone observed, “God is never late, but he sure misses a lot of good chances to show up early!”
Can I go just a bit further? Sometimes I think He’s too late (stay with me).
“Abraham, you’re going to be the father of a multitude of nations.” That was God’s promise but old Abraham was 99 and his wife 89 when God spoke and said they were going to have a child.
“Um, Lord. I know you said that but you’re kind of an hour late and a dollar short, aren’t you? I know I don’t have to give you an anatomy lesson but it’s TOO LATE.”
Actually, what he did was fall down and start laughing (Read it in Genesis 17:17. It’s in there).
A good bit of the best things that ever happened, happened after it was “too late!” Jesus hung on the Cross and the hope of Israel and of mankind evaporated like raindrops on a Texas sidewalk in August.
It was “Too late!”
Truth is, everything that God does passes by the principle of the Cross—death, then resurrection life. We think it’s too late. No more hope.
Here are a few principles of “Too late” as far as God is concerned:
• “Too late” is a barrier created by time dwellers (us). God is eternal. He always was and He always will be. He doesn’t have the same sense of time that we do (kind of like our wives, eh fellows?). Abraham never saw that multitude of nations that God promised would come from Him but he died believing it and we see the accomplishment of God’s promise to him.
• “Too late” is often part of the process. “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.” (John 12:23, 24, NKJV)
• Beyond the “Too late” barrier we often see God more clearly. Mary and Martha knew the Lord Jesus to an extent and they had faith but when Lazyrus came shuffling out of the tomb bound in those unneeded graveclothes, they saw His glory in another dimension. God often waits until too late to show that He’s not bound by time or anything else.
• Beyond the “Too late” barrier God comes to us but it’s often not how we imagined it would be. Joseph dreamed that he would be the head of a family. God took him past the “Too late” barrier and he became the head and savior of a family and a nation. Don’t try to manipulate God to accomplish His promise the way you had imagined it. God has something even better planned.
Maybe you’ve given up hope on your dream, your family, you health, your job or your situation. You feel in the bottom of your being that it’s “Too late.” “Maybe I didn’t really hear God speaking in my heart. Or maybe God …”
Jesus and Martha stood before an “It’s too late” tomb. She just wanted to forget the whole thing. She still believed he was the Messiah so let it drop. But Jesus wouldn’t leave it there.
“Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?’” (John 11:40, NKJV)
When 99-year old Abram heard God’s promise he changed his name to Abraham, “father of a multitude.” And he went around praising God. His friends probably saw in all that the onset of Alzheimer’s disease but a year later old Abe was holding the promised baby in his arms–a baby born across the “Too late” barrier.
Have you got any “Too lates” that you’ve buried then went on with your life? But, if you’re honest, it still hurts and you wonder why. Maybe you buried that dream too soon.
Maybe you need to keep believing beyond the “Too late” barrier.
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Hmmm …
“God’s purposes are never frustrated by difficult circumstances, nor are his promises thwarted by our narrow definitions of the possible. In fact, Gods’ promises are always accomplished through His power, which is most clearly demonstrated in ‘impossible’ situations. Nothing is too hard for God!” (Dr. Ed Hindson)