T H E 11:59

EX PER IEN C E

God WILL Be On Time!

By Jackie Morris
 Contents

1. God Will Make a Way………………………………

2. God Will Do the Impossible ......................
3. God Is Always on Time ..............................
4. God Will Not Let You Perish .......................
5. God Is Never Taken By Surprise ................
6. God Will Tell You What to Do ...................
7. God Has a Purpose for Everything .............
8. God Wants to Use You ..............................
9. God Will Render Justice ............................
10. God Is the Answer to Every Problem .....
Conclusion ....................................................
A Word of Encouragement …………………………
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God Will Make A Way
╬ A father and son are headed towards the mountains, as the book of Genesis records the
story. One is an old man; the other is a picture of youth. The young

lad is carrying a bundle of sticks for the offering strapped across his back. He demonstrates
obedience by adhering to his father’s every instruction. He has journeyed with his father to
other sacrificial offerings before, but this time seems different. Even though full of youthful
questions, the young lad did not speak of the thoughts that he did not understand.
Something was missing.

The father appears preoccupied as they ascend the mountain together. Little do they know,
but for each step the old man takes up the mountain, there is also a ram on the other side
taking that same step. The heaviness of the cost of obedience has begun to weigh heavily on
the old man’s heart and is making his chest pound. Sweat is popping up on his forehead and
running down his face. Nevertheless, he continues to ascend the mountain, and so does the
ram. They did not see each other, but God sees them both. With each step the old man
takes, he gets closer to the sacrificial site. He has already told his beloved son that God will
provide a sacrifice. The old man stops when he reaches his destination.

Together the father and son build an altar. Now the father explains to the young man (the
son he was promised, the son he loved) that he, the son, is to be the sacrifice. He binds the
young man (who offers no resistance) and places him on the altar. He unsheathes the knife
and raises it with every intention of plunging it into the heart of the gift God gave him; his
precious son.

It appears to be the end, but the very God who sent him on this mission, stops the old man!
The eternal clock stopped at 11:59. The other climber, the ram, has been caught in the
thicket by its horns. The ram is the provision God has supplied for the burnt offering. Of
course, we know this is the story of Abraham and Isaac. Abraham could not see God’s plan
unfolding. He was not aware of the ram on the other side of the mountain.

The Valley of Decision

Abraham was just like us -- a person with human emotions. In spite of those emotions, he
made a choice --a painful choice.
He made a decision to trust God without knowing the outcome of his obedience. When he
raised the knife, no one knows exactly what he felt; we can only speculate. One thing we can
conclude: he did not allow his feeling to supersede his faith.

The eleven hours and fifty-nine minutes we go through before we reach that last minute, the
“do-or-die” time, is when we should be trusting God. However, that is usually the time we
spend worrying, doubting, being fearful, becoming angry, everything but trusting God. There
are those who have reached that level with God, where they just rest in His ability to deliver.
For others, it is a time of great stress and pressure. I pray that we will have the faith that
Abraham displayed when asked to sacrifice his son.

When Abraham left his servants at the bottom of the mountain, he stated to them that he
and the young man would return. He spoke words of faith although he had no idea how God
was going to bring to pass what he was saying. God had never broken His word to Abraham.
The Lord reminds me of His faithfulness especially during the times when I’m questioning
what He is doing in my life. Even during the times when I feel discouraged while waiting for
the Lord’s promises to come to fruition, He says to me, “check my track record.” No matter
how many trials I’ve had to endure, the Lord was always faithful.

We may not like what God wants us to do. Remember, God does not need our approval, but
He does require our obedience. I cannot imagine Abraham skipping down the road to go
sacrifice his son. This must have been a crossroad in his spiritual life. He had waited so long
for God to manifest this promised son, and now he was asked to kill him. This was a true test
of faith.

A Time of Testing
Our faith must be tested in order for God to show us what’s in our hearts. Before that one
minute was up, God stopped Abraham from making the sacrifice and instead provided one
for him. Abraham had proven that there was nothing he would withhold from God. Can you
imagine the relief Abraham felt when God came through at the last minute? I’m sure
Abraham would agree that He may not come when you want Him, but He’s always right on
time.

The Holy Spirit brings these 11:59 experiences back to our remembrance so that we can
reflect on God’s faithfulness in our lives. Each one of us must have our own personal
encounters with God in order to know Him on a personal level. No matter how much faith
someone else has, we cannot live off someone else’s faith.
Jesus has to be a personal Savior to you. I hear many Christians say, “God is good all the
time, and all the time God is good.” But how many of them really believe that? Do you
really believe it? It is impossible to know that He is good if you don’t have a relationship with
Him. You can only know about Him. It’s our personal interaction with God that builds our
confidence and gets us through the tough times. And believe me, tough times will come.

The devil works hard at getting us to doubt, question, and wonder about God’s faithfulness.
Like Eve in the Garden of Eden, our first mistake is that we listen to him. The Bible lets us
know that he is a liar. Every time he opens his mouth he lies, and yet we are guilty of giving
him an audience. He was able to convince some of the angels in heaven to believe his lies
and rebel against God. He probably whispered some doubts into Abraham’s ear too, but the
outcome lets us know that Abraham did what we should all do, and that is obey God and
leave the outcome of our obedience to Him.

Learning to Let Go
I tried very hard to get along with the father of my two younger children, but our relationship
deteriorated to the point that we had to go to court.

The custody battle over the children was the most painful ordeal I had ever experienced. We
don’t always understand what God is trying to teach us when we are consumed by emotional
or physical pain. Mentally I was a wreck, and there were days when I would have welcomed
death or considered suicide, BUT God wouldn’t let me. Even when I asked God to let me go,
He wouldn’t listen. Most of the time all I wanted was for the pain to go away. Every time I
had to go to court, I came back feeling like I was fighting for my life. The kids were much too
young to understand what I was going through. It felt like my life was being slowly sucked
out of me. Instead of dying slowly, there were days when I just wanted to get it over with.
The pain of living did not outweigh the release I believed death would give me. Just because
we are Christians does not mean we won’t experience extreme pain sometimes. The
emotional pain had driven me to the point that I entertained thoughts like; “if God don’t take
me, I’ll do it myself” and “I just want to go to sleep and not wake up.” I didn’t want to face
another day.

No one could have convinced me that God had a plan for me because all I could see was a
cloud of darkness all around me. All I wanted was for the pain to stop, and to me, death
seemed like a remedy. It was hard for me to pray, but God had already placed a strong
support system of believers in my life who prayed when I couldn’t. The devil would whisper
in my ear, “If God loved you; He wouldn’t allow you to go through such pain.” Many days I
fought not to believe the devil’s lies, but there were some days when I didn’t win.
In retrospect, I realize that God was trying to teach me to give my children back to Him, but
at the time, that was not on my mind. He doesn’t want us to put mother, father, brother,
sister, children, or anyone else before Him. It was a very painful lesson, but I learned it.

God Has the Last Word

I had a lawyer who kept trying to convince me that in California it was not common for a
judge to give full custody to one parent. With all the strength I could muster, I took the
stand that I would not compromise the issue of custody. As a matter of fact, on the day the
judge was going to make his final decision, I told my lawyer I wanted to speak for myself.
Before the moment arrived for me to listen to the judge make a decision about my children, I
went into the bathroom. I went into a stall and stood behind the door. And as I wept, my
heart ached from the thought of possibly loosing my children. I was at my 11:59 moment.
With all the strength that was within me I told the Lord that I needed Him at that very
moment, not the next day or week, but NOW! I reminded Him that He was the only God I’d
known and called upon since I received salvation and that I needed Him more at that
moment than ever before. After pouring my heart out and drying my eyes, I went back into
the courtroom with my heart still pounding (“heart in my hands”).

Instead of seeing the judge, I sort of envisioned God sitting on the bench about to render the
final word concerning my children. When the judge spoke the words, “In any other case I
would give joint custody, but not in this case,” the Lord had spoken. I could feel the
presence of God more than I could see the judge sitting before me. I knew that God was in
control of my life, but there comes a point where the rubber meets the road and it never
feels good. We will experience some pain as we grow in the Lord, but He is faithful.

I wanted to scream, shout, and cry all at the same time! But I remained composed until I got
outside, and then tears of joy flowed like a broken dam. The eternal clock had stopped at
11:59.

God will supply what we need

“And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in
glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19 NKJV)