From the archives of Oral Roberts – Third of three parts
Many people I know are expecting God to do something for them “someday.” Their someday may not be until Heaven! That isn’t the way, however, that the apostles of Jesus felt after they had been filled with the Holy Spirit and began to preach the Gospel, with signs and wonders following. They expected God to act in the NOW of their lives.
Peter didn’t say to the lame man by the Beautiful Gate, “Rise up and walk when you feel like it.” Peter took the man’s hand and lifted him up, expecting Jesus to heal him right at that moment!
When Peter faced the great crowds that gathered every day on Solomon’s Porch to hear the Gospel, he didn’t say, “Repent when you feel like it – if not today, maybe someday.” No! He said, “Repent NOW and be baptized.”
NOW thinking was THE thinking of the early believers in Jesus Christ. In Acts 4 we find a prayer coming from God’s people when they heard Peter and John tell them about the authorities who had detained them, punished them for preaching about Jesus, and then released them. In their prayer, they said these three powerful words, “AND NOW, LORD” (Acts 4:29).
These people were crying out to God, “We are in Your NOW. You are in our NOW. We are looking for a Now action.” The people prayed, “And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants.”
What is the thing that is threatening your life today? Is it sickness…a threat against you financially…a threat against your home…against your family? Pray as they prayed, “And NOW Lord, behold the threat of the devil against me.” Not tomorrow, Lord … NOW!
Get in God’s NOW. Recognize that He is in your NOW. Then … expect God to act NOW.