God, Intervene!

Have you ever had a time in your life when you were practically begging God to intervene?  I have!  I have prayed fervently, “Lord, please do something!  I know that You are able! Send someone to help, work in the circumstances of this day, send me a reversal!”

Let me propose that if this is you, if you are desperately asking God to intervene in your situation today, He may just be saying, “I AM!!!  This, what is happening right now, this is my intervention!  I’m doing it!  You can’t see it right now, but I am working.  This is My plan.  Trust Me!  I know what I’m doing.  Keep asking, keep watching, keep believing.  Do what I say and you will see!  Place your faith in Me and you will never be ashamed!”

When Joseph was sold into slavery, don’t you think that he was wondering why God didn’t intervene?  After all, why did he dream about his brothers bowing down to him if he was never going to see them again?  Then, when he was thrown into prison for something that he didn’t do, don’t you think that he wondered why?  But all the while, God had a plan.  He needed Joseph in Egypt.  He needed him in the house of the captain of the guard.  He needed him in prison at the same time as Pharaoh’s cupbearer.  But wait…  Joseph asked the cupbearer to intervene.  But one day passed and then another, until he must have believed that he had been totally forgotten.  But God was saying, “Joseph, you’re not forgotten!  I will use the cupbearer to get you out.  But it is not quite time.  I love you!  You will see!  I have a grand plan that you can’t even imagine!  Hang in there!  Keep serving Me in your pain and it will all come to pass, in due time.”  What a glorious day when Joseph is appointed as second to Pharaoh and charged with saving the people from starvation!  How he must have felt when his dreams came true and his family was brought under his protection!

What about Esther?  As a young Jewish girl, she found herself as a contestant on “The Bachelor”. (Alright, maybe she wasn’t on a TV show, but it’s the closest resemblance I can find, so just play along.)  Her bachelor was the King of Persia and he had already put away his previous wife because she embarrassed him in front of his friends.  Then somehow she won the whole competition and became his queen.  But she had a secret, and soon because of this very secret, her husband would vow to kill her, her family, and the entire Jewish race.  (I know, even a season of “The Bachelor” couldn’t have prepared you for that turn of events, could it?)  Then, as if she didn’t have enough stress, her uncle tells her that she’s their only hope.  What???  You must be kidding me!  God, intervene!  Then He says, “I did!  I made you his wife.  You, Esther, are My intervention, for the entire Jewish race!”  Wow!  In the words of her uncle, “Who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”  I’ll tell you who knows… GOD!

This is the same God that sent His One and Only Son to save the world.  But when this Savior’s defeat looked certain, the disciples must have screamed, “God, intervene!”  Their hero’s super powers seemed to be no match for the numerous villains and their King would most certainly be dethroned unless God would intervene.  But again He was saying, “This is My intervention!  This is how the Savior becomes the Savior.  I know you don’t understand that now and it looks like you may have wasted three years on a Man that couldn’t deliver on His promise.  But in three short days, it will all make sense.  You see, these animal sacrifices are not sufficient.  My Son has come to be the unblemished Lamb to be slain once for all.  He will defeat death, rise again, and save the whole world with the blink of His eyes. His power is like no other!  Your King will sit on His throne on High, reigning for eternity.”

When Paul was put in prison for telling others about this Savior-Hero-King, he must have wondered, God why won’t you intervene?  I’m the good guy now, teaching and witnessing so that others can come to the same Saving Grace that I have.  Why are You letting me be confined to this small space when I have a whole world out there that I am trying to reach, and… I’m doing this all for You I might add.  Intervene, Lord, for the sake of Your Kingdom!  But God must have sat back shaking his head, saying, “Paul, if you weren’t confined to this small space, how would these prison guards ever have come to know Me?  Would you really have voluntarily walked up to them as My witness?  Do you think you can single handedly tell the whole world?  Do you think that you will be on this earth forever?  Don’t you see, that your brothers are becoming more confident because of your imprisonment and now they are witnessing more boldly.  Some of these men will be here witnessing long after you have left this earth and the places that can be reached for My kingdom are expanding.  Your imprisonment was My intervention for the prison guards, your companions, and all those that will come to know Me through them.  Remember Paul, if not for My intervention in the first place, you would be the one putting people in prison for using My name.  I know how to intervene!  I am God!”

So sometimes God may be quietly working through your circumstances or other people in order to bring about His plans for you and His kingdom.  But sometimes, YOU are His intervention.  Sometimes, YOU are the one He is using just like He used Joseph, Esther, and Paul.  It doesn’t matter how God chooses to do it.  All that matters is that you can trust Him with your life!  If God needs to intervene, you can rest assure that He will, but in His time and in His way.  You just keep asking, keep watching, keep believing.  Do what He says and you will see!