Steven Furtick - God's Timing, Not Yours
THis is an excerpt from: This Might Be My God Moment
Here’s the principle: sometimes you’ve got to show up unsure. I said that just in case you’re here today feeling like, «I don’t know if I really believe this». The fact that you showed up is enough for God to show up and show you who he is even though you’re not sure. Sometimes you’ve got to show up to work unsure. Sometimes you’ve got to show up to a doctor’s office unsure what the diagnosis will be. Sometimes you’ve got to show up in prayer unsure, even wondering, «Lord, are you listening»?
Now, I won’t ask you to raise your hand, but have you ever been praying about something and wondered, «Lord, are you listening»? Somebody pull out your phone real quick. How many believe your phone is listening to you? Raise your hand if you believe your phone is listening to you. How do you know? Because stuff shows up because you said something, but you didn’t type anything, and you weren’t even talking to the phone, but five minutes later… «How did this hair replacement pill get on my phone? All I did was look in the mirror and think, 'I’ve got a little spot back here.' How is this on my phone? It’s listening to me. I’m convinced that it’s listening. I don’t know who’s spying on me or what they want, other than to sell me stuff, but it’s listening to me».
Now, hold up your phone. You believe it’s listening? You believe there is technology that was invented by man that can know your thoughts from afar and can show you stuff you said? You have more faith in your phone than you do in your Father who made you? The phone was made by a man, but man was made by God. If my phone can hear me talk about going to Disney World and put it on my Instagram feed, how much more can God hear? I’ll prove it to you. When Thomas said, «Unless I touch his hand, I won’t believe, » Jesus wasn’t in the room. So, it means he’s listening even when you’re not looking at him. He’s listening even when you don’t fully feel him. He’s listening even when you don’t have the courage to say what you think.
Touch your neighbor and say, «My God listens». He’s a good listener. My God is a good listener. My God doesn’t break eye contact with me. My God was listening when I was singing to him today. My God likes to hear me sing. My God loves to hear me praise. My God listens to me. He not only hears the song I sing; he hears the groans that are within me. When I have a groan that is too much for a word, his Spirit intercedes for me. God listens. Even when I don’t see him, he’s listening. Even when I can’t discern him, he’s listening. Even when I cannot trace him, I can trust him, because I know he hears my prayers. We serve a Lord who listens. So, when he shows up to Thomas, he says, «Hey, Tommy, I heard you want to touch right here. Go ahead and touch right here». «I heard you want to touch this one too. Go ahead and touch both hands. I’ve got time».
By the way, speaking of time, realize that God transforms lives on his timeline, not ours. Not ours. Especially if there’s somebody you’re praying for who you care about who you know is far from God. God knows the right time to show up and touch their heart. Just because it hasn’t happened yet doesn’t mean he doesn’t hear your prayer. I want to say that to a parent. Just because it hasn’t happened for your child yet doesn’t mean he hasn’t heard your prayer. I want to say it for a wife who’s praying for her husband, and he wouldn’t come to Easter service. A lady told me the other day… I met her out on tour. She said, «You’re the only preacher I can get my husband to listen to. Please keep preaching. I can’t get him to go to church with me yet, but he’s listening». I said, «If he keeps listening, God will keep speaking, and it is only a matter of time, » because God transforms lives on his timeline, not mine. His timeline, not mine. Put it in the chat. His timeline, not mine.
«Lord, are you listening»? «Yeah, I’m listening». «Well, Lord, you’re a little late». And the Lord said, «I’m listening. I’m not late. I’m waiting eight days on purpose». Which begs the question… If he waited eight days to come and tell Thomas to touch him, why would he waste eight days when he’s only going to be on earth 50 before his ascension? That’s almost a tenth of the time that he is going to be on earth that he wasted waiting. Now, here’s the beautiful thing about this passage, and I’m going to tell you why I chose Thomas for our Easter sermon. We’ve been in a series in our church called Called. Very creative. The series is called Called. I’ve been doing this 20 years. I’m running out of ideas. I just called it Called. But in all seriousness, it’s been, for me, one of the most rich studies in Scripture I’ve ever done, because I’m going through different people that God called by name, but specifically, he called their name twice.
Now, if you’ll notice in the Scripture, Jesus didn’t call Thomas' name, but Thomas' name means twin. It says that in verse 24. «Now Thomas, one of the twelve…» Watch this. He’s still one of the Twelve even though he doesn’t have faith. God knew it was going to take him awhile when he called him. He called him anyway. He’s still one of the Twelve. Now, Judas… That didn’t go so good, so it’s technically Eleven. Judas is going to be replaced shortly. But he’s one of the Twelve, and watch this. He is called the Twin. That’s literally what the name Thomas means: twin. There’s widespread speculation amongst scholars as to who Thomas' twin is. If you research that question, you’ll get many different answers, none of them satisfactory.
The Bible doesn’t tell us who his twin is. But I want to suggest to you that there is a twin in Thomas that reflects the twin in you, because regardless of who his actual brother or sister was that was his twin, we see a man swing in this passage from «I will never believe» to «My Lord and my God» in just a moment. Furthermore, he said, «I’ll never believe unless I touch Jesus' hands; I’ll never believe unless I touch Jesus' side, » but if you’ll notice in the passage, the moment never came where he actually touched Jesus' hand. Because in spite of all he thought it would take for him to trust in God, seeing Jesus alive was enough. So, Thomas, who you call Doubting Thomas… The Bible does not call him Doubting Thomas. Nobody called him Doubting Thomas until a few hundred years ago when the church began to canonize his dysfunctional moment and make it his identity.
So, who we call Doubting Thomas only doubted for eight days. He went on to be one of the most effective disciples that ever lived. So, my question for you today is…Shouldn’t we give him a better name than Doubting Thomas? Because Doubting Thomas also had a twin, and his name is not Doubting Thomas but… Watch this. I am renaming this disciple today on the spot. Jesus didn’t name him Doubting Thomas. People did. You say he’s Doubting Thomas. I say he’s Trusting Thomas, and I say he went from Doubting Thomas to Trusting Thomas because Jesus loved him enough to show up, and not only show up but to show him the scars where the nails had been to remind him of the price that had been paid. When Thomas saw the print of the nails, and when Thomas saw the wound in the side, he makes a confession that is very meticulous, and we should observe it for a moment on Easter Sunday. He says, «My Lord and my God».
Now, you say, «That’s not a big deal». It most certainly is for a first-century Jew. To call any man Lord would have been considered blasphemy unless that man was God. Furthermore, throughout the ministry of Jesus, many people called him Lord. It was a title given of respect. So, Thomas says two things when he sees the proof of the wounds of the one who won his salvation. He says, «My Lord and my God». Now let me show you why I call him Trusting Thomas. John’s gospel starts, and John 1:1 says, «In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God». John’s purpose in writing his gospel was to declare the truth that Jesus is God. Not just a good man…the God man. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh to dwell among us (John 1:14). «In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God».
But it is not until John, chapter 20, when Thomas sees the wounds of the Savior, that Jesus is called God by another person. Isn’t it interesting that the one who was latest to see Jesus after the resurrection made the greatest confession of faith in the entire gospel of John? Tell your neighbor, «Don’t count me out». «I’m a little late, but don’t count me out. I’ve got some issues I’m still working through, but don’t count me out. I’ve got some things that are really dragging me down and dragging me back right now, but don’t count me out. I’ve got a little something I’m working out over here on the side, and I’m not exactly as holy as everybody on this row, but don’t count me out. Don’t judge me just because you met me as Doubting Thomas.
I have a twin. My twin is Trusting Thomas, and after Jesus gets through with me… After Jesus gets finished doing what he’s doing in my life, he who began a good work in me will be faithful to perform it». The truth of the matter is every Thomas has a twin, and everybody in here praising God has a twin that we might meet on Tuesday if we encounter you in a different situation. So, it just depends on when I meet you that determines how I identify you. «In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God».
So, God does not label me by my lowest moment. God does not label me by my doubts inside. God does not label me by what I missed out on. God does not label me by the shame of my past. He says, «I heard you were talking about me, Thomas. Now I want to show you something, because I was listening to you, like a phone listens to you when it’s not in the room. I wasn’t in the room». «Jesus, how did you get in»? «I don’t really have a problem with locked doors». Hey, anytime you can walk out of a sealed tomb, a locked door is not a problem. The thing you are worried about… God is like, «Really? You think that’s going to keep me out? Really? You think that’s going to stop my plan for your life? Really? You think that’s going to derail the destiny I planned for you»? Eight days he doubted, and after eight days he made the greatest confession: «My Lord and my God». Nobody has called Jesus God up until this moment, and it was the one who doubted him the most. Is God saving the best for last in your life, and could it be that the darkest moments reveal the deepest truths about who he is?