God never makes mistakes. God never errors in judgement. God is never late or tardy. These are axioms of truth. To add to these declarations, I point your attention to the only glimpse of a young Jesus who has traveled with Mary and Joseph to Jerusalem from their hometown of Galilee. It was a Jewish festival that brought this young family to the large city. People from northern Africa and the outposts of the western regions came joined together as well. We would be correct to assume that this was not the first trip Jesus made with His parents, but on this particular trip, the Lord made His way to the Temple. When Mary discovered His absence she hurried back to the city to find Him. She had never lost Jesus before and it is evident through the scripture that she worried about the matter. They found Him in the Temple, sitting and teaching the learned men. No one had ever heard such wisdom, especially from a twelve year old. Mary will ask the question that many have asked the Lord, and I paraphrase, “why did you leave me?” “Jesus, where were you. I looked for you and you were not with me?”
Now that most critical axiom: If we are removed from Him, we are the ones who left. Jesus never leaves. Jesus never fails. Jesus never changes.
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.
It was the story of the children of Israel who waited on the Cloud of Glory to move before they would move. If the Cloud tarried, so did the people. If the Cloud moved quickly or tarried long, they waited because they were, and we are, Nothing without the Spirit/Cloud.
Moving might seem reasonable to the human mind, but without Him there is no life. So I say, Jesus is the God of all life. He is the Water, the River, the Bread, the Word, and the reason for all things. And we will wait on Him.
Pastor Jeffrey Harpole