God’s Clock!
“God was with him and rescued him from all his troubles.”

Acts 7:9b-10a

I have often thought it would be very “cool” to be a member of a “rescue squad.” On call, at a moment’s notice prepared to run to the rescue of people in peril, I’m sure that service is personally fulfilling and extremely gratifying.

Needing the rescue squad is not so “cool.” I have been on that end of the equation a few times and it is not “personally fulfilling or gratifying.” When you call 911 you do not know if the next few minutes will bring a happy resolution to your problem or will be forever remembered because the rescue attempt failed.

The Bible clearly says that God was with Joseph and that God rescued Joseph from all his troubles. That sounds like an easy road doesn’t it? God was with Joseph so what could go wrong? God rescued Joseph so how could Joseph suffer? The thing that we miss is the clock of God. When God’s clock ticks off one day our clocks count one thousand years. In more practical terms for us, when God’s clock ticks off one second our clocks run for more than four days!

So if a day to God is as a thousand years to us, then most men live less than two hours by God’s time.

When God recues me from my troubles if He comes right now, I am grateful. If He waits for one second then I wait for four days. If He waits ten seconds then I wait for forty days. If He waits a minute and a half, then I wait a year!

Children have the same problem with us. When a child has to stand in the corner for ninety seconds it can certainly seem like a year!

My job is to rest in the fact that God will rescue me. It doesn’t matter when or how long I must wait for Him. Unlike the rescue squad, God never arrives too late and He never comes upon a problem too big for Him to solve!

Remember God rescued Joseph, but God let him stay in prison for a few minutes before he became a ruler in Egypt. God often says to His people, “Stay right where you are for a few minutes more!”