Suddenly“Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple.” (Malachi 3:1) In the 1954 Frank Sinatra movie Suddenly, an assassin planning to kill the American president passing through the small town of Suddenly in California is turning the town upside down. Brooke Shields may be Suddenly Susan, but what is sudden to us isn’t sudden to God because He works according to His timing, not ours. God will move heaven and earth for us if we would only learn to trust Him as we meditate on His Word day and night so we can claim the rich promises therein. Because God moves suddenly, we must learn to rest in His goodness and be patient until He shows up in all His glory. When Moses wanted to see God’s glory, God said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you...you cannot see My face...I will put you in the cleft of a rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by...Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.” (Exodus 33:18-23). When we hide in the cleft of the rock, God comes, and even though we can't see His face, we feel His presence and experience His goodness, and suddenly everything is fine. Long before Elvis, the Bible recorded Jailhouse Rock, the greatest prison break in history in Acts 16:22-33: “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake...all the doors were open and everyone's chains were loose.” Paul and Silas were severely flogged but they did their part, they whipped it good and kept praying and praising God even while in chains with the rats running around in that dark filthy Roman dungeon. God then did His part, He showed up on time at the midnight hour but suddenly. The result was not just Paul and Silas were freed, but all prisoners were freed, and even the warden asked, “What must I do to be saved?”... and he and his household were saved and baptized. The lesson here is we must keep praying and praising God no matter what the circumstances are, and even though we may not be able to see God in the situation, we can surely enjoy His goodness and mercy. (Psalm 23:6) The how and when of our deliverance is entirely up to God, so just be ready, for He always comes, but He comes suddenly.Copyright © 2003 Eddy Ministries. All rights reserved. Subscribe/Unsubscribe: eddyn@earthlink.net
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