AN ON TIME GOD

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went; his head was covered and he was barefoot. All the people with him covered their heads too and were weeping as they went up.

Now David had been told, "Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom." So David prayed, "O Lord, turn Ahithophel's counsel into foolishness."

When David arrived at the summit, where people used to worship God, Hushai the Arkite was there to meet him, his robe torn and dust on his head. David said to him, "If you go with me, you will be a burden to me. But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, 'I will be your servant, O king; I was your father's servant in the past, but now I will be your servant,' then you can help me by frustrating Ahithophel's advice. Won't the priests Zadok and Abiathar be there with you? Tell them anything you hear in the king's palace. Their two sons, Ahimaaz son of Zadok and Jonathan son of Abiathar, are there with them. Send them to me with anything you hear."

So David's friend Hushai arrived at Jerusalem as Absalom was entering the city.

2 Samuel 15:30-37

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

On one of my recent posts, a friend left a wonderful testimony written by a grandparent (the friend’s first cousin) who had asked for prayers for her grandson. The boy had suffered a broken arm while on a cruise and was taken to a hospital in Miami for treatment who looked at the boy but instructed the family to drive home (a 15 hour drive) and have surgery completed there to have pins inserted in the boy’s arm because they couldn’t do it there until Monday due to the unavailablility of the orthopedic surgeon.

Sensing that something wasn’t right with this, the writer called her home orthopedic office where her son had already been seen two years prior for the same kind of break. The doctor on call told her that they should not drive the boy home in his condition for fear that he could lose circulation in his arm if things shifted and potentially lose his arm all together.

And so the family was in a quandary. They weren’t going to return home and couldn’t see the orthopedic surgeon at the Miami hospital for several days. And in the midst of this quandary, God entered in.

For the on call doctor, who the woman had never met, asked if he could have a few minutes to make a call…and less than 10 minutes later, he called back telling them to take the boy to a Miami children’s hospital where a surgeon would be waiting for them to perform the surgery.

And so the surgery was completed and the family returned home early in the morning on the next day.

Well, there was a matter of gratitude that needed extended and as the mother and son went to the orthopedic clinic to thank the doctor who had helped them so much, she discovered that the doctor was in her Sunday School class at church. He had been aware of the mother’s prayer request when she had called him. Needless to say, the mother was amazed and led to write a note of praise.

In that she testified that “God is good all the time” for he had placed the right doctor on call that day and led her to call that doctor before following the instructions and placing her injured boy in the car. She concluded by saying, “…this gift from a Father that really takes care of us is one I will never forget”.

This was an awesome example of what God does each and every day. We don’t hear about every incident but He makes it a habit to put the right people in the right places under the right circumstances and for the right purposes. We truly do serve an on time God.

Well as Chapter 15 of 2nd Samuel closes, we see David also discovering this truth. He has just ordered his priests Zadok and Abiathar to return to Jerusalem with the Levites and the ark of God. There they were to listen to any plans Absalom might have and send word to David about them in advance. Now he is advancing to the Mount of Olives, noticeably disturbed by the events that were taking place as he wept with his head covered and walked barefoot. His people likewise were weeping and mourning as they traveled with him.

What further led to David’s disappointment and anguish was the word that his trusted counselor Ahithophel had joined in with the conspiracy of Absalom. This action led David to pray to the Lord asking that Ahithophel's counsel be turned into foolishness. And as we will see David’s prayer will be answered, just as the mother was led to the right person at the right time to offer the right assistance, so too will David experience

Because as “David arrived at the summit” of the Mount of Olives where “where people used to worship God”, there to meet him was “Hushai the Arkite”. As he stood there, David could see “his robe torn and dust on his head”, clearly showing he had been mourning as he was.

Sensing Hushai could be a key ally in his efforts to stave off Absalom, David seeks to send him back to Jerusalem to help him and frustrate the efforts of his betraying counselor Ahithophel. And so David proposes that Hushai go back to Jerusalem where he would offer himself as a servant to Absalom, telling him that he had been a servant prior of King David. David knew that Absalom would take in another servant of David feeling he was continuing to draw people away from his father. Little would Absalom know that Hushai was actually an insider working with the priests Zadok and Abiathar to spy on Absalom and relay his plans to David. And with that, we read where “David's friend Hushai” went to Jerusalem and arrived just as “Absalom was entering the city”.

Hushai was the right person and the right time under the right circumstances and for the right purpose for David…all provided by an on time God.

Friends, maybe you have had a similar experience…having a circumstance that you were in and after prayer, found God provided you the right person or occurrence at the right time under the right circumstances to accomplish a right purpose. And through this proclaimed that we serve an on time God.

If so, leave a post today and bless others with your testimony just as my friend did for me a few blogs ago. You never know…it might end up being the right writing that will be used by the right writer or speaker for the right purpose to illuminate the right scripture passage and provide the right message to the right people who need to hear from the Lord.

Truly, we serve an on time God. Hallelujah! Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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