Because I am a fan of the British series Doctor Who, I associate the term “time lord” with the series’ title character, who is capable of traveling into any moment in time. It’s not unusual for Doctor Who to step into his ship, set a chronological date, and fly to wherever he needs to go. The whole series is founded on the Doctor’s ability to travel through time.
However, this has no comparison to the power of God. Our God, as Pastor Richie shared on Sunday, does not need to travel through time because He is not subject to time. He created time, and He commands time. Time does what God says. We have this evidence in Scripture:
The day the Lord delivered the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua prayed to the Lord before Israel: “O Sun, stand still over Gibeon! O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon!” The sun stood still and the moon stood motionless while the nation took vengeance on its enemies. The event is recorded in the Scroll of the Upright One. The sun stood motionless in the middle of the sky and did not set for about a full day. (Joshua 10:12-13)
Hezekiah had said to Isaiah, “What is the confirming sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the Lord’s temple the day after tomorrow?” Isaiah replied, “This is your sign from the Lord confirming that the Lord will do what he has said. Do you want the shadow to move ahead ten steps or to go back ten steps?” Hezekiah answered, “It is easy for the shadow to lengthen ten steps, but not for it to go back ten steps.” Isaiah the prophet called out to the Lord, and the Lord made the shadow go back ten steps on the stairs of Ahaz. (Second Kings 20:8-11)
Pastor Richie made an awesome comment concerning Jesus’s apparent delay in responding to the illness and death of Lazarus (see John 11:1-44). In arriving to Bethany four days after Lazarus’s death, it appeared to the people that Jesus showed up “too late” to do anything. But Jesus, the Lord who is not subjected to time, has the power to command creation irrespective of time. If Jesus speaks life, then death has to step aside. Therefore, and I paraphrase Pastor Richie here, “There is no such thing as praying too late. So if you were supposed to pray for someone at 9, and didn’t remember until it was 12, pray anyway!” If we really believe this, and if we live as if we believe it, our prayer lives will be completely transformed. This power of God is a power that transcends time, and even transcends death.
If time is not capable of preventing God’s hand, then how can we ever say it’s too late for Him to act?
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