Tag Archives: soap opera

Waiting Until the Time God Sets

Despite how impatient human beings can be, waiting is part of God’s process. If everyone got what they wanted and when they wanted it in life, there would be no intrigue or mystery. Meanwhile, history is like a series of cycles that often repeats itself, especially when mankind doesn’t learn from the mistakes of the past. As individuals set out to achieve desired goals, success often does not come until the time God determines.

The Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for her as He had promised. For Sarah became pregnant and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time God had told him, Genesis 21:1-2.

Whenever this topic comes up in a conversation, I always remember when I waited to become a PGA teaching professional. The initial step begins by passing a Player’s Ability Test, shooting a set score for 36 holes in one day based upon the difficulty of the course. During my first attempt, I hit the ball great, played the hardest hole one under par, but missed by 2 shots because I played the easiest hole three over par with 7 putts. If I just two and three putted this short par 3, I would have become what I wanted, not God’s will for my life.

 I have seen the painful labor and exertion and miserable business which God has given to the sons of men with which to exercise and busy themselves. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He also has planted eternity in men’s hearts and minds [a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy], yet so that men cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end, Ecclesiastes 3:10-11.

Abraham and Sarah experienced their own soap opera on the way to having their first child together. Despite trying for more than a decade, Sarah’s womb remained barren. The older each became, the more unlikely Sarah’s dream of having her own child would become a reality. Nonetheless, the circumstances became so overwhelming, that only God’s power and His time could have conceived Isaac. This is just one of many examples of waiting until the time God sets for His promise and will to be fulfilled.

by Jay Mankus

Money, Sex and Power

You don’t have to go far in today’s culture to find examples of money, sex, and power. Advertisements, commercials, magazines, and movies entice viewers with temporary pleasures. While these superficial factors may start out as innocent distractions, if individuals aren’t careful money, sex, and or power can become supernatural forces of evil, Ephesians 6:12. This isn’t a cautionary tale, but a spiritual reality.

David sent and inquired about the woman. One said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And David sent messengers and took her. And she came in to him, and he lay with her—for she was purified from her uncleanness. Then she returned to her house, 2 Samuel 11:3-4.

The best example in the Bible of money, sex, and power is the affair between David and Bathsheba. As King of Israel, David decided to take a vacation for couple of months. At some point in the first week, David got bored, taking an evening stroll on the roof of his palace. Upon recognizing a beautiful woman taking a bath, David invited her over for a romantic dinner for two. Despite being married, David seduced Bathsheba with his power and wealth.

For we brought nothing into the world, and obviously we cannot take anything out of the world; But if we have food and clothing, with these we shall be content (satisfied). But those who crave to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish (useless, godless) and hurtful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction and miserable perishing, 1 Timothy 6:7-9.

As if a scene from a modern-day soap opera, Bathsheba misses her period and likely finds out from a nurse that she is pregnant. Upon hearing his news, David attempts to conceal his affair by permitting Uriah to take a leave of absence from the army. However, when Uriah refuses to have sex with his wife while his company is still fighting, King David panics. Subsequently, Uriah is sent on a suicide mission and dies in battle, opening the door for David to marry Bathsheba. This story of money, sex, and power serves as a warning to anyone who thinks they can conceal their sins from God.

by Jay Mankus