AND THIS TIME YOU WILL NOT MISS YOUR TURN
Truth must never be sacrificed on the altar of expediency.
SOME YEARS BACK I received a call from a national news source, an iconic pillar of journalistic prominence recognized around the world, asking me for an interview. More than just an interview or sound bite, this media agency wanted to feature me prominently, front and center, in a full-length profile highlighting my life, ministry, and leadership to illustrate what I describe as a new movement committed to reconciling Billy Graham’s message of salvation through Christ with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s march for justice: the Lamb’s agenda. Who drives this agenda? The fastest-growing demographic redefining Bible-believing Christianity and evangelicalism in the twenty-first century. Welcome to a multiethnic, multigenerational reformation.
This news source sent a reporter and a photographer to shadow me in Sacramento and on a trip to DC in order to capture a variety of candid pictures and videos of my church and me. It thrilled me to stand in my pulpit that Sunday and share with my congregation, many of whom belong to the Lamb’s agenda reformation, about this opportunity to share the Lord’s work in us and through us. I introduced our guests and explained how they would be taking pictures and interviewing some of them to get a good feel for our church. I tried not to boast but explained how I would be the cover and centerpiece for this major news source’s big story.
The next day I engaged in a lengthy conversation with the reporter. While we had enjoyed several shorter, casual conversations, the reporter and I met for our formal, in-depth interview. As we began talking, the journalist subtly and then not so subtly started asking challenging questions about my perspective on social and political issues. I had already made it clear that I considered myself a nonpartisan independent, a leader desiring to advance an agenda of righteousness and justice in the name of Jesus, regardless of the party in control. Reinforcing my position, I explained how I had already worked with both President George W. Bush as well as President Barack Obama.
Nonetheless I began to get the distinct impression of the views the reporter held as this individual began to steer our conversation—along with my responses—toward certain beliefs. We reached an impasse when the journalist politely challenged my pro-life position and unshakable advocacy for religious liberty in light of recent Supreme Court decisions. I explained that I made no judgment on women or anyone holding the pro-choice viewpoint but I just could not compromise the Word of God and His gift of new life, regardless of the human circumstances and consequences. Simply stated, in my mission to advance the grace-filled message of Jesus, I stood committed to one defining principle: truth must never be sacrificed on the altar of political expediency.
As we concluded our conversation, the journalist casually asked about other evangelical Latinos the publication might speak with to round out a portrait of me and this emerging movement. I named several leaders, the reporter thanked me, and we wrapped up our time together. I felt uneasy but could not explain why, so I just prayed for God to work through this opportunity however He wanted.
What could go wrong?
This was my turn, right?
A few weeks went by, and I could not wait for the big story to break. I saw some of the photos from the reporter’s visit, including the one I assumed would grace the cover of the iconic periodical in which the article would appear. My parents felt so proud and excited for me. My wife and kids shared my joy and the blessing of such coverage for our church and the movement. My congregation celebrated with me, and I began to receive congratulatory calls and emails from friends and pastors in my network and beyond.
Finally, the story broke. And the word broke describes it perfectly because my excitement quickly shattered into pieces that I did not like experiencing: disappointment, anger, frustration, shame, and sadness. My picture did not appear on the cover, but a phrase I had used again and again in the conversation with the reporter provided the headline and title of the story. The article itself featured a few quotations from my interview, but the reporter had gone on to interview several of the very people I had recommended and to showcase them just as prominently.
I felt embarrassed as I faced all the people in my life who had anticipated sharing my joy. Most felt confused and chalked it up to the news media trying to appeal to the broadest audience of consumers. I also felt ashamed that perhaps I had let my hunger run ahead of my humility. While it was no sin to want national attention for our organization and the Christian church, let alone what God had done in the lives of so many men, women, and families in our great nation, I knew that my pride experienced a serious blow.
I also knew in my heart that if I had been willing to say what the reporter wanted me to say, then I would have received what I had been promised. I would have gotten my turn. Instead I watched others step into the spotlight at the moment I thought I would be standing there. I missed my turn. It just did not seem fair somehow. I trusted in God’s sovereignty, of course, and I knew I could count on Him and His faithfulness. Still, the entire situation stung me with remorse. Why had this happened?
No matter how I rationalized the outcome or how long and often I prayed and trusted my Savior with the situation, I still felt like a little kid forced to watch the parade pass by without him.
I had missed my turn.
The story of the man waiting beside the pool of Bethesda has many aspects, but the part that resonates with me the most is the sense of frustration that comes from waiting for one’s turn. That man waited years for his turn, wondering, hoping, and dreaming of the moment he got in the pool first, only to face disappointment, anger, and frustration again and again. Over and over he had to witness countless others rush in and emerge with the exuberant joy as their injury, illness, or infirmity miraculously disappeared. Perhaps the paralyzed man wanted to celebrate with them, to be happy for them, but still …
When would it be his turn?
My situation with the interview profile cannot begin to compare to this man who had been paralyzed for thirty-eight years, and yet we all know that feeling. We all have those moments when we expected something good to happen only to see it slip through our fingers. We all know how it feels to wait our turn and miss out at the last moment.
Maybe you missed the promotion you worked so hard to attain, staying long hours and putting in overtime to make sure you went above and beyond the requirements of your role’s responsibilities. Your coworkers praised your work ethic, your customers posted the highest ratings possible, and your boss assured you that your time had come. When the new position opened up, everyone chalked it up to a mere formality when you applied. Surely you had the job!
Until you didn’t.
The new hire got the job. Or the CEO’s nephew. Or someone on your team you were mentoring. It did not make sense. No one seemed to understand it, but you missed your turn.
We all have those moments when we expected something good to happen only to see it slip through our fingers.
Or perhaps you missed out on the person you were waiting on to spend your life with, a man or woman of God who shared your faith, your desire for a family, your values and interests. You met, began to spend more time together, and started falling in love. Both your families approved and could not wait until you tied the knot. As the months passed by, you anticipated the proposal that would formalize what you just knew you had both been feeling.
But it never came.
Your would-be fiancé decided to see someone else, wanting to be friends with you and nothing more. As perfect as you seemed for each other, the love of your life passed you by and left you more alone than ever before. You thought you would be married and soon start a family, but you missed your turn.
Maybe you have struggled with a physical condition your entire life, one that has placed limits on your ability to take pleasure in all the areas of life you see others enjoy. You have learned to compensate, perhaps through medication or devices or the help of others, but you long to live life with both feet on the ground, just as the paralyzed man at Bethesda must have dreamed of for so long. Week after week, month after month, you have done what you know you must do to become stronger—physical therapy, exercise, and a healthy lifestyle. You have seen others with your same condition get well and become whole again, so the possibility cannot be denied.
And yet … it has not happened for you.
You still struggle.
You still try.
Your hope runs out.
You secretly fear being too late.
You have missed your turn.
And that is the way it is.
“Dad, she got two cookies, and I only got one!”
“No fair! Mom, he got to stay up later than me!”
“I got here first! They broke line—make them get at the back of the line!”
“When do I get my turn? Everybody else has already had one. I want my turn!”
When our children were young, Eva and I often found ourselves caught in the middle of sorting out situations based on our kids’ testimony. As with most little ones, it was not unusual for them to blame each other for broken toys or messy rooms and to feel they deserved to be treated in a superior way to their siblings. They wanted the world to be fair when convenient, but they also wanted everything tilted to their advantage.
As grown-ups we often do the same.
We tend toward the extremes, feeling like a victim of life’s unfairness while also feeling entitled to have what we want the way we want it. As we watch others receive the job, the spouse, the family, the career, the health, or the material blessings we so long to enjoy, we grow weary of waiting. We cannot understand why others get what we want while we continue to suffer and struggle, waiting and watching.
We cannot fathom why someone else always gets there ahead of us. We feel owed, entitled, and promised, and we just cannot come to terms with why we remain stuck in place, paralyzed by so much responsibility, so many bills, so little money, and so much work yet to be done.
Sometimes when we miss our turn, it feels especially painful because we have never stopped keeping our faith. We know that God is good and sovereign. Surely He wants the best for us, right? God’s Word assures us, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28). So why has He not answered our prayers, healed our wounds, or restored our relationships? We think, “If God loves me—and I know He does—then why have I not had my turn?”
We get tired of waiting.
Our patience wears thin.
We decide to take matters into our own hands.
We need to remember, of course, that our idea of best might differ greatly from God’s knowledge of best, according to His divine wisdom and omniscience. God’s ways are higher than our ways, and we cannot know all that He knows. As spiritual beings in mortal bodies, we have a limited grasp through our senses and our intellect, as well as by the confinement of linear time as we know it. Our best often falls far short of the eternal best that God wants to pour into our lives.
Even when God gives us personal assurance or a prophetic insight, we may not get what we feel He has promised us in the way we expected. Those situations often tempt us to take matters into our own hands and try to force people and events to conform to what we believe we—and God—want to be done. God wants us to wait on Him and remain patient in the face of obstacles and impossible odds. But we want to hit the fast-forward button and jump to the healing, the miracle, the promise fulfilled, and the gift.
One of the most intriguing examples emerges from the life of Jacob, whom God later renamed Israel, the founding father of God’s nation of Jewish people. I find it striking though that even before Jacob came along, God promised Jacob’s grandfather, Abraham, that he would be the beginning of a mighty nation of people that would endure for all time. Who would not be overjoyed to receive such a promise from the Lord?
But the years turned into a decade, and still Abraham and his wife, Sarah, had not conceived a child together. They had grown older, and Sarah was not physically be able to become pregnant. The two of them then tried to force the situation, with Sarah offering her maid, Hagar, to be a kind of surrogate mother to birth Abraham an heir, which she did. (Read Genesis 16 for the full story.)
Only God did not have that in mind. God intended to give Abraham and Sarah a son, and so He did. Sarah gave birth to a baby boy they named Isaac, which means laughter. I suspect these two old parents felt so overjoyed at doing the impossible, conceiving and bearing a son in their old age, that they could not stop laughing.
Isaac grew up and fathered two sons of his own, twin boys Esau and Jacob. Even before they were born, God indicated that Jacob, the younger likely by a matter of minutes, would rule over his older brother, Esau, the firstborn. Notice how the characters of these two caused them both to feel like they had missed their turn.
Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the LORD.
The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”
… The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob. Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I am famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.)
Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”
“Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”
But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.
—GENESIS 25:21–23, 27–34
The story does not end there, though, because Jacob secured the other dimension of his identity as the most significant son. With his mother’s help Jacob pretended to be his brother, Esau, and brought food to his father. The old man, unable to see well and fooled by the animal skins Jacob wore to mimic his brother’s hairy forearms, then blessed the trickster with the traditional blessing a father could only give to his firstborn son.
Jacob got what he wanted—so he thought. Except that his life got worse instead of better for many years. The guilt of tricking his father likely weighed on him. The shame of exploiting his brother and stealing his inheritance just added to the crushing weight Jacob carried. Ironically, of course, by working so hard to achieve what Jacob believed God had promised him before birth, Jacob set in motion consequences that only caused more chaos, heartache, and deception for everyone in his family.
Jacob thought he missed his turn, so he did something about it. He did not get what he bargained for in return. Once again he must have felt disappointed. Jacob kept running, afraid of facing his brother. He got married—twice, in fact—grew wealthy, and the Lord blessed him, but Jacob knew things were not right.
He still missed out on what he most desired.
Jacob’s story reminds us that even when we have attained what we thought we wanted, it does not equate to waiting on what God has for us. After all of his running, after all of his waiting and waiting, Jacob finally had more than he could have hoped for. By most of his neighbors’ standards, Isaac’s youngest son had become a rich man: two wives, a dozen sons, large flocks, and countless goats and donkeys. These insufficient attempts at compensation could not stop the past from haunting him.
We cannot excuse or justify what Jacob did. Rather than waiting on the Lord’s timing, he stole his twin brother’s birthright by conspiring with their mother, Rebekah, and outright deceiving and lying to their father, Isaac. Jacob also took advantage of Esau by exploiting a situation in which Jacob found his brother famished after a long hunting trip. Knowing his scam would be discovered, Jacob ran and kept running for much of his life.
At first he went to live with his Uncle Laban, where Jacob experienced a similar kind of duplicity and exploitation that he himself had perpetrated previously on his own family. After enduring seven years of labor necessary to marry Rachel, the woman he loved, Laban tricked Jacob into marrying her sister, Leah. He then had to work seven more years, which he did, to wed Rachel. But even then Jacob still had not found the peace of knowing his turn had come.
Born into situations beyond our control, we might be tempted to blame our parents, our families, and the limitations of our socioeconomic boundaries. We may resign ourselves to believing that we can never rise above the baseline of our birth. Or we may work hard to better ourselves and achieve what we consider to be what we deserve. Yet even after we appear successful by the world’s standards, we still feel cheated, still feel shortchanged, still feel deprived of the peace, purpose, and passion we see others enjoying.
I suspect that even from birth Jacob likely felt like he had missed his turn, grabbing his brother’s heel as they raced out of the womb and into the world. Thus, his very name, Jacob, meaning heel-catcher or supplanter, reflected the fact that he missed his turn and did not emerge as the firstborn, who traditionally received the father’s blessing and the birthright to inherit most of his father’s wealth.
In the Bible, names often reflect one’s character or personality. We cannot know if Jacob naturally was a trickster, chaser, or con man at heart or if he grew into his name because others expected it of him. Regardless, he seems to have lived up—or down, as the case may be—to what his name implied about him: someone always running after his turn, chasing the next opportunity to finally get what he needed to be whole.
You must remember your true identity in Christ. He did not make you a runner-up, second-best, too-late person who missed a divine appointment with destiny.
Sometimes when you miss your turn, you struggle to get over it. You feel cheated. You might grow angry at God and, like Jacob, decide to take matters into your own hands, determined that you will take what should be yours since you missed your turn. Whether intentionally or inadvertently, you step on other people, ignore the consequences, and demand the blessing that passed you by. Perhaps you cut corners at work in order to take more money home. Maybe you omit the truth with your family to get what you want from them. Whatever the circumstances, you compromise your integrity to attain what you believe will satisfy your soul.
However, if you desire to experience the same healing and walk by faith, as the man by the pool in Bethesda did, you must remember your true identity in Christ. He did not make you a runner-up, second-best, too-late person who missed a divine appointment with destiny. He made you a son or daughter of the King! And although you might seemingly miss an opportunity or watch someone else enjoy something you thought was intended for you, God will always bless you with what you truly need!
The man at Bethesda thought he needed someone to help him get in the pool. He believed he needed to be just a little quicker, a little more responsive to receive the healing he so desperately wanted. But as it turned out, he did not need either of these ingredients! He simply needed Jesus.
You might know you need Jesus, and you might already know Him as your Lord and Savior. Maybe you have been waiting a long, long time for your turn. Whatever you do now, my friend, do not give up! God has not brought you this far to abandon you now—He has promised never to leave or forsake you! What if your turn awaits this afternoon, tonight, tomorrow, this weekend, or next month? Trust that God has a blessing waiting on you just around the corner. Believe that your turn has come!
Jacob dreaded having a showdown with his angry brother, Esau. Decades had passed since they had last spoken or seen each other. But Jacob knew he had to finally face up to the follies of his past mistakes if he wanted to receive the spiritual inheritance God had promised him. Jacob mustered his courage and showed up to square off against his brother—only Esau did not show up.
Instead Jacob found himself face to face with himself. He sent his wives, servants, and children away and put down his defenses. Alone, Jacob wrestled with God in the guise of a man and refused to give up until God blessed him.
So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
The man asked him, “What is your name?”
“Jacob,” he answered.
Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”
—GENESIS 32:24–28
Jacob’s turn had finally arrived. He refused to give up! He could no longer run, no longer hide, no longer strive. Jacob stopped chasing after all the pursuits he believed would compensate for not having the turn he thought he deserved. And when Jacob stopped running, he came face to face with God. Wrestling and refusing to give in or give up, Jacob received God’s blessing, symbolized by a new name, Israel, and by the limp that would go with him the rest of his life.
Like Jacob, you may feel battered and bruised, limping and struggling to get by. But you do not have to fight any longer. You have persevered and won God’s favor. You no longer have to fight for your turn because God wants to bless you.
To receive what the Lord has for you only requires your faith. Faith, and faith alone, saves you. You do not have to solve problems, resolve conflicts, provide solutions, make others change, or force anything to happen.
What if the problem you thought you had is really not the problem?
What if you simply need to stop worrying so much and working so hard and surrender your need at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ?
What if you are next in line to receive God’s best?
When God shows up in your life, He makes you next even if you missed your turn before! Four years after I missed my turn with the interview profile, I looked out upon hundreds of thousands of people as I stood on the platform only a few feet away from where the inauguration of our new president would take place. I delivered a prayer, seen and heard by millions of people around the world, only moments before our country’s new leader took the oath of office. Suddenly calls, texts, and emails bombarded me, asking for interviews, opinions, articles, books, prayers, and anything else I wanted to share!
My turn had come.
I thought I had missed my turn years ago, but God had something even bigger and greater waiting for me. I would never have been standing at the presidential podium addressing millions of people around the world on Inauguration Day in 2017 if I had missed my turn! Looking out at the sea of faces, I marveled—and still do—at what God had done in my life and what He continues to do each and every day. What looked like a missed turn years ago had actually prepared me for something greater.
When Jesus says, “Your turn has come!” one word comes to mind: Wow! By the grace of God (1 Cor. 15:10), the man overlooked years ago has become a presidential adviser, bestselling author, movie producer, megachurch pastor, and above all a grateful beneficiary of the grace of Jesus.
You might think you have missed your turn, but I am writing this book to tell you that your turn has come, my friend. Something bigger, better, and bolder than you expected or imagined will happen soon. Do you think the man beside the pool of Bethesda believed he would ever walk, actually walk, in the manner he did? One moment he has lying there on the ground waiting, wondering, wistfully wishing he could have his turn. And the next moment, Jesus commands him to walk, and he stands to his feet, taking step after step!
Jesus shows up and makes this man, paralyzed for almost forty years, next in line. The man waits on someone to help him get to the edge of the pool in hopes that somehow, some way, he could be the first in the water, no matter how unlikely.
Apparently he tried before, but because of his debilitating paralysis he simply moved too slowly. Other people, ambulatory and with full mobility, rush in to splash and bathe in the healing waters, receiving the healing bestowed by being the first.
You might think you have missed your turn, but I am writing this book to tell you … something bigger, better, and bolder than you expected or imagined will happen soon.
How many times have you expected it to be your turn when in fact it did not end up being your moment after all? How much longer will you wait while the opportunity slips away to grow, change, and be all God made you to be? How can you continue to settle for less than God’s best when Jesus stands right before you asking, “Do you want to get well?”
You have been waiting for your turn.
You have been praying for your turn.
You have been fasting for your turn.
You have been hoping for your turn.
You have been through hell for your turn.
You have fought off devils, demons, principalities, powers of darkness, strangers, family, and even yourself for your turn! And just like the man beside the pool at Bethesda, you have asked, “When will I be next?”
I am telling you in the name of Jesus that because of what you have been through, because of where you will go—not just for your sake, but for the sake of your children and your children’s children—the time to walk by faith has come. Stop waiting on someone else to heal you, help you, or hand you the divine destiny God has for you. No longer will you sit on the sidelines and watch others rush to receive the bounty of blessings that belong to you. You have finished being paralyzed by fear, by anger, by disappointment, or by circumstances.
Don’t miss this moment!
Put a smile on your face, a praise on your lips, and a twinkle in your eyes because, ready or not, you are next! I do not merely pray or hope this for you, my friend; I believe God promises it to you! Who can stop what God has purposed (Isa. 14:27)? He declares, “At the right time, I, the LORD, will make it happen” (Isa. 60:22, NLT). I dare you to believe with me that you are next!
You may have missed your turn before but not this time. This time you are next in line! No one will cut in front of you. No one else will receive what God wants to give you. No one else can ever steal what has been eternally purposed by the power of the living God, Creator of heaven and earth!
You are next to be set free from addictions!
You are next to see your entire family saved!
You are next to reap an unprecedented harvest!
You are next to awake and participate in changing our great nation!
You are next to witness a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit!
You are next for the breakthrough!
You are next for the overflow!
You are next for the healing!
Live like you are next, praise like you are next, dance like you are next, rejoice like you are next, worship like you are next, make a joyful noise like you are next, and stand up and walk like you are next.
Do you want to get well?
You. Are. Next!