When God says, “I am going to use your life for my glory,” we often forget that a sword is not formed in a hammock, it is formed on an anvil. There is going to be heat, hammering, bending, reshaping. It is all necessary, and it is going to take time. Yet in the process, we cry out, “Lord, I thought you said you were going to use my life, but all I do is find myself going through the fire. Oh, Jesus, help me!”
The Lord replies to you, “I told you I was going to use your life for my glory! But I am not going to use you until you are ready.”
The prophet Habakkuk said, “For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come” (Habakkuk 2:3).
The things God has spoken to you will come to pass. If God said he is going to bring your family home, then he will bring your family home! If God said he is going to use your life, then he is going to use your life — but on his timetable, not yours.
Paul exhorted the Philippians: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Philippians 4:8, KJV).
At times God may appear to be silent, even though he has actually already sent the answer. However, it meets a form of resistance before it reaches us. This hindrance actually may be inside of us because we have listened to other voices that resist the voice of God. In today’s society, we have access to so many voices, and that can easily lead our thoughts astray. We must be very careful about who and what we are listening to.
Carter Conlon joined the pastoral staff of Times Square Church in 1994 at the invitation of the founding pastor, David Wilkerson, and was appointed Senior Pastor in 2001.