“And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard…’” ~ Matthew 20:6
REFERENCE:
Matthew 20:1-12
As we commence the second half of the year, you may wonder why certain things that you expect to have happened now are yet to happen or why there seems to be an unusual delay in that situation. You may even feel forgotten, and that meeting that deadline will be impossible. Well, that is not God’s verdict on the matter; with God, it is not too late.
I think of the men in our text in the labor market waiting to be employed. They left their homes that day hoping to earn income from their day’s job, considering they were paid based on the number of hours they worked. If anybody needed early intervention, it would be such men. The earlier fortune smiled on them and their trade, the better for them. Yet, it was not so for some.
As early as dawn, people started getting hired, and this continued until late afternoon. However, some men stayed there all day, and nobody came for them. They thought of the horrors of returning home empty-handed to their wives and children; they wondered if they were not good enough and why fortune did not smile on them. It was now an hour before the close of work, and even if they had been hired, more than the pay would have been needed to pay their transport fare home.
Suddenly, the landowner came and employed them at the eleventh hour (5:00 pm). He came just when they decided to start trekking home. This landowner was a type of God. He steps in when you think that all hope is lost. He has a way of intervening before shame covers your face. He knows exactly how you feel – the fear of failure and the pressure you are under.
This ‘Landowner’ did the unusual. At the close of work, just having worked for an hour, He paid these men what they would have earned if they worked for twelve hours. With God, it is not too late; He will step in when you think all hope is lost. He will intervene before you see shame and compensate you for your weeks, months, and years of delay. He will bless you unexpectedly, just like those who went ahead, and you will catch up with them. He will hire, appoint, and select you for favor, bringing unexpected blessings into your life.
PHOTO QUOTE
ADDITIONAL TEXTS:
John 20:3-6 (ERV), Hebrews 10:36-37 (ERV) and Psalm 27:10 (ERV)
+ It may seem that my contemporaries run faster than me, but by Your intervention, I will go beyond where they stop. I will overtake those who have gone ahead of me.
+ Father, by the time you are done with me, it will not look like my miracle ever delayed.
+ I declare in confidence and faith that IT IS NOT TOO LATE. You will show up on time for me.
