This is the title of the new book I am reading. Its author is Max Lucado. At first i thought it was going to be a "rip-off" of Purpose Driven Life, when I saw the title, but I know Max Lucado is very good, so I took a chance and bought it.

As this is Resurrection week-end, et. al, I always try to reflect on it that way. Basically in "real time" - try to feel what those folks were feeling 2 thousand years ago. Imagine myself at the cross, watching Christ die, seeing all our hopes, dreams, ideas, & future die with him. The despair they must have felt. NOTHING worked out the way they had hoped, dreamed, thought.

All the next day, Saturday: How they must have been second-guessing themselves, and Him. How they must have thought He had duped them, that He was a fraud, and now it was all over. I can just imagine the conversations going on all day Saturday......"WHAT were we thinking?" ".....WHAT really happened here in the last 3 years?" ".....What was He trying to tell us?" and my favorite, "......WHAT DO WE DO NOW?!?!"

The question that I've heard (seen?) written a lot on the boards lately is:
"How Long, Lord?" HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO WAIT???? This question has come up in my own mind many times. I'm sure in yours, too. Here's what the Lord revealed to me last night, during my reading:
HOW LONG is not our concern.
HOW LONG is not important to God.
But the answer is this:
HIS answer is: "AS LONG AS IT TAKES"

See, God is not in any hurry. He takes His time! Imagine being a disciple that Friday night and Saturday. You've buried the Messiah. You're all alone. You're frightened, confused, got lots of questions and NO answers coming. I believe they were literally paralyzed with fear!

Well, to return to the book, and how it all fits together........I was reading a couple chapters out of this book last night, and something hit me. It hit me b/c I have asked the question, too. And, as I said, I'm hearing it a lot on the boards lately. AND, I imagine the disciples and His family all asking it, too, that Saturday before He arose and they really understood.

"WHAT am I supposed to do?" HOW do I fix this?

His answer: IT IS FINISHED

WAIT ON ME and see Me work it all out. AND I WILL WORK IT OUT IN WAYS NOBODY'S EVEN THOUGHT OF!!!

One of the chapters proclaims ALL THINGS exist for His Glory.

And why do we exist? TO SHOW HIS GLORY! If we are abased, it is to show His Glory, if we are abounding, it is to show His Glory. If we are suffering, it is to show His Glory. If we are reconciled, one to another, ALL THINGS EXIST TO SHOW HIS GLORY.

I am more and more convinced that the ONLY way we will have more M's reconciled is if we LAY ASIDE ourselves, forget about what WE want, and seek ONLY to lay our lives at His Feet, to use to Show His Glory to the world. IF it serves HIM to have our M's reconciled, it will happen.

The next chapter was about "Time", and God's Perfect Timing. This one hit me hard, too!
Proving God's "eternal-ness" with scriptures such as Isa. 43:13, "From eternity, I am HE" and John 8:58, "Before Abraham was born, I AM"

Another quote from the book: "He knows your beginning and your end, because He has neither." He further contends that b/c He is eternal, He has set a seed of that knowledge deep within each of us, that somewhere deep inside, we also know we are eternal beings.

What's my point? This: 2 Cor. 4:17 - "Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."
Paul "got it." He knew that he would be forced to suffer over and over. He ALSO knew that he belonged in ETERNITY, so these "few moments" that he would suffer whatever he had to, would be NOTHING when compared to the eternity and glory that awaited him in heaven!!

Oh, how I want to understand that!! Oh, how I want to live in that state of mind. Oh, how I want to put all this junk that wastes my time and efforts away, and LEAVE THE RESOLUTION OF IT TO GOD!!!

Knowing that life is but a "vapor" gives us the strength to ENDURE the "light affliction" (as Paul called it) that we are enduring. Think about it: You can ANYTHING for a short time, if you know there WILL be an end to it!! While it may seem endless to our finite minds, somewhere deep inside, we KNOW we are not going to be here long!!

This particular chapter ends with these comments:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">
"We can be sick for just a moment.
We can be lonely for just a moment.
We can be persecuted for just a moment.
We can struggle for just a moment.

Can't we wait for our peace? It's not about us anyway. And it's certainly not about NOW."</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">