2 Chronicles 29:36 Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced at what God had brought about for his people, because it was done so quickly.

Jewish history has some incredible swings in relation to their devotion to God. Looking at the first part of this chapter, it’s almost hard to imagine the complete reversal brought about by King Hezekiah. The thing is, if they had been more aware of their own history in the first place, it seems unlikely that they would have gotten so far off track. However, as Einstein is credited with having said, “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity. And I’m not so sure about the universe.” When society trends toward stupidity, a hunger for common sense builds up, and if there is a trigger event, things can indeed happen with great speed, just as this verse says. I personally look forward to what will happen with regime changes in Iran, China, and North Korea. Iran in particular has a fairly recent history of modernity and rationality, and there have been various signs of a strong, pent-up demand to return to such a lifestyle. We can’t exactly make it happen, but we can certainly pray! America, even, is in an almost whiplash situation, going from left to right, and the changes within this year are at times astounding. The thing to remember in all of this is that nothing is impossible for God, and His schedule can seem completely unrelated to ours. As Peter pointed out, “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” (2 Peter 3:8) We can’t necessarily predict when God is going to act, but we had better be ready! At this point, many things seem to indicate that Christ’s return is imminent, but again, specific schedules are guaranteed to be wrong. We need to be living so that if the Day is today, it will be all rejoicing for us, and not regret at what we have failed to do.

Looking back over my own life, I have had some pretty sudden transitions. I’ve handled some of them better than others! Most recently it was retirement from school teaching, but that seems to have stabilized. Things are changing in this church, and I don’t know when decisive moments will arrive. I am to focus on faithfulness, but not demand what feels like stability. My stability needs to be in Christ Jesus my Lord, not depending on anything else. Frankly, that’s easier to say than to do. I have the tendency to depend on my intellect, when that is totally insignificant in the eternal scheme of things. At this point I am looking forward to the “suddenly” of transition from this life to the next, but in the mean time I am to make full use of every opportunity the Lord gives me to serve Him.

Father, thank You for this reminder. The pace of life, of change, has certainly picked up over the centuries. My ancestors would have been amazed! Help me indeed rest, relax, and rejoice in You, however fast or slowly things seem to be going, so that I will be fully available and useful to You, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!