When we are the ones who tarry...

Yesterday, I read this account of the heavenly man.

"Brother Yun was born in 1958 in the Southern part of Henan Province among the simple farmers and pheasants of Liu Lao Zhuang, Nanyang County. Brother Yun’s mother had believed in Jesus years before through missionary witness, but after the missionaries were expelled and churches shut down in the Communist take-over, she had grown cold towards the Lord through lack of fellowship. There were no Bibles to help the Christians grow.

In 1974, Yun’s father lay dying of cancer. Such a loss would have left the family in dire straights, and things were so hopeless that Yun’s mother even contemplated suicide. One evening as she lay in bed, she heard a voice say, “Jesus loves you.” In tearful repentance, she rededicated herself to Jesus Christ. She gathered her family around and they all prayed, “Jesus, heal father!” The very next morning, Yun’s father began to get better. Everyone in the family believed on Jesus, and they all began to experience revival.

Brother Yun was 16 at the time. The family did not have a Bible, and it had been many years since Yun’s mother had heard any teaching about Jesus. Yun began to ask his mother who Jesus truly was. She would reply, “Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross for us, taking all our sins and sicknesses. He recorded all his teachings in the Bible.” Yun would ask if there were any way he could learn of the teachings of Jesus for himself. His mother would say, “No. All his words are gone. There is nothing left of his teaching.” Imagine a family hungering and thirsting for some knowledge of the words of God, and no way to find out what they were!

Yun’s mother took him on a long walk to see a man in another village who she remembered had a Bible. The man was too afraid to show Yun his Bible, but he told him, “The Bible is a heavenly book. If you want one, you’ll need to pray to the God of heaven. Only He can provide you a heavenly book. God is faithful. He always answers those who seek Him with all of their heart.”

Yun decided to fast and pray for a Bible, and for the next 100 days ate only one bowl of steamed rice every day. He cried out to the Lord for a Bible. His parents thought he was losing his mind. One morning, there was a knock at the door. Two men had brought a Bible to Yun.

Three months before, an evangelist in another town had been instructed by the Lord in a vision to give his Bible to Brother Yun. Although he did not know this young boy, the Lord had showed him the village and house where Yun lived in a vision. It had taken him three months to decide to obey the Lord."

After reading this account, I was quite bothered by it ... bothered by the fact that Brother Yun had to fast for 100 days for an answer to prayer because the person God instructed to be the answer to prayer took 3 months to obey.

It set me thinking: How often do I not obey immediately?

And when that happens, what are the repercussions on the person for whom God had intended for me to bless through my obedience?

God sometimes does not tarry. However, He uses human instruments, and sometimes it is us who tarry. Would it be that we are like the men and women of God in the Bible, who respond immediately when God calls.