God’s timing

It has been said many times, God’s timing is not ours. In fact, it does not have to be said, if you are alive and human, chances are you have experienced that fact. Many of our plans have a way of not being executed according to our wills, rather they get to be executed according to God’s will and in His time. Peter said that for God, a day is a like a thousand years, and a thousand years like a day. Clearly, our concept of time is not the same (2 Peter3:8). However, this does not mean we should forfeit the Lord’s ways because He is on a completely different timetable than ours, making Him indifferent or less likely to understand our predicament, what it means rather, is that we should align ourselves with His timing because He is above everything, and He sees what we cannot see. Most importantly He delights to do us good like a good father. There are many reasons why waiting for God’s timing is beneficial, but I will stick to these three: salvation, witness, and enjoyment.

Salvation

Salvation simply means to be saved, rescued, redeemed, delivered. To receive salvation, one must be in a situation that requires help from outside, it could be a bondage, it could powerlessness, or the likes, regardless of the situation, it is helpless without a saviour. God has frequently spoken of himself as a saving God – the Lord of Hosts, a rescuer, a God of vengeance (Deuteronomy 32:35), one who will defend the rights of the orphans and widows (Deuteronomy 10:18), one who is close to the poor and who speaks on his behalf, one who takes care of His beloved. There are many examples in the bible where we see this salvation from God and how complete it usually is. The greatest one is the salvation that God did through His son Jesus Christ on the cross so that whoever believes in His son would have eternal life. I think it does not get better than this because this salvation was done in the most unexpected way, just at the right time (while we were still sinners as said in Romans 5:8). God’s salvation came as prophesied; indeed, God’s salvation is always a testimony to the character of God of being the source of truth, or Truth himself. God’s salvation went above and beyond, not only did He vindicate us before the devil, He made us co-heirs with His son (Romans 8:17) and we are now adopted into His family. Moreover, we were given His very Spirit to live in us so that He would always be with us. This is what God’s timing alone does, when He is ready to act, He does that and does it in the most beautiful and awesome way! So wait for His salvation in your situation, wait for His vindication.

Witness

Those that have waited on God’s timing in their lives have the privilege of becoming witnesses of God’s goodness and power to the world. Through their patient waiting, others are able to see the power of God displayed in their lives and those who did not believe, often become believers. Indeed, Psalm 40 says “many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord” (Psalm 40:3) talking about the effect of God’s salvation. This can only happen when one is able to wait for God’s timing, not trying to cut corners or make things happen on their own. Look at the people of Israel, when God’s time came forth to save them, it caused other nations to be afraid of them and many recognized that the Lord of Israel was no ordinary god. By waiting for God’s timing, Israel became a witness to other nations of their powerful and loving God. Moreover, waiting for God’s timing allows the recipient of God’s salvation to witness God’s salvation and see how personally God took the situation. God has made it clear that He is a personal God and whatever affects you, affects Him (Isaiah 43). He said, He will be like a father (Psalm 103:13, 2 Corinthians 6:18), or a husband (Isaiah 54:5; Hosea 2:16; Ezekiel 16:8-14), or even a friend. It does not get more personal than that. Furthermore, God told the Israelites that He would be their avenger, and that He himself would fight for them (Exodus 14:14). Therefore, when you wait for God’s timing, not only does He bring His salvation powerfully, but He also allows you to be a witness of how much He loves you and cares for you. You get to see Love in action. Isn’t that marvelous?!

Enjoyment

The last reason to wait for God’s timing is for enjoyment. This should come as no surprise really because those who wait for the Lord will receive their reward. The bible is filled with passages about waiting, persevering until the end because there is a great reward (James 1:12). Not only that, those who wait on this earth for God’s timing for whatever situation in their lives are able to enjoy the good gifts that come from that waiting. One of the best examples from the bible for this case is king David, it took him many years, to become the king of Israel but when he did become king, God elevated him highly, he enjoyed many riches, he had a full life. Another example is that of Mordecai – Esther’s uncle, funny enough it is not a character that is often talked about much, however, Mordecai was forgotten for the good he had done to the Persian and Medes empire, yet he waited for the timing of God’s salvation and it surely came (Esther 6, 10:1-3). Once it came, Mordecai, had the privilege to enjoy all its benefits, he was elevated to the highest rank, he who was an outsider was brought in. There is also the story of Joseph who waited patiently for God’s timing and when it came, he was elevated to the point of becoming second in rank to the pharaoh (Genesis 41:40). He enjoyed a long life full of blessings from the Lord. That is what happens when you are able to wait for God’s timing, He always comes true. What He has promised to do, He will surely do for He is not a man that He should lie (Numbers 23:19).