A time of war, And a time of peace

Balance!  We all need to be able to know when to do what.  Just like when driving down the road and coming to a traffic light, safely continuing on your way is all about timing.  Driving through when the light is red is not a good idea and neither is sitting still at a green light because you may get run over.  The same goes for everything that we do.  Eccl 3:1,8 state, “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to love, and a time to hate; A time of war, and a time of peace.”  The questions are how do we know when the timing is right, when do we prepare and what do we prepare for?

Timing is everything!  Sometimes things seem obvious to us even though we do not have all of the information.  How do we know when and what to do; we ask God.  There is no substitute for this.  One clear example would be in 1 Samuel 30.  Allow me to paint a picture.  David and his entire mighty army return home after wanting to kick some butt only to find their city and homes destroyed and their families kidnapped as slaves.  My very first thought would be, “Don’t even dismount our horses, let’s go get our stuff back”.  They were fresh and ready!  That’s not what David did. David asked God whether he should pursue or not, even though his own men were threatening to stone him to death.  Fortunately, God told David to go after them and he would get everything back.  Was the time that it took David to ask God what to do vital in recovering all?  Speculatively yes, but the point is, he asked first.

Prepare ahead of time.  Note that Noah didn’t wait until it started raining to build a boat.  When it came to war, there was always a call to those who were ready; God called the prepared.  Joel 3:9-11  “Prepare for war! Wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near, let them come up… Cause Your mighty ones to go down there, O LORD.”  This isn’t a call to start working out and get into shape.  The time was now and all of those who were fit were called into service.

We are called to do as John the Baptist did and prepare the way for Jesus and make the way straight.  Another way of describing this would be "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”  Understand that John was mightily prepared.  He quoted scripture AND explained it.  John proclaimed that God was coming to Earth to both save whoever will and proclaim war on the rest.  In other words, choose sides NOW and there are no innocent bystanders.  Pick a side and prepare yourselves to do what is asked of you.

Now what are you called to do and are you prepared?