God’s Timing, Not Ours

Another source of anxiety can be trying to force things to be done in our timing instead of the Lord’s. When there is a mismatch in that area, it creates tension and stress within our minds that can lead to anxiety. We often see these kinds of thoughts rising up inside us:

• Why doesn’t God do something?
• Why doesn’t God hear me?
• Why doesn’t God deal with these evil people who are persecuting me?
• Why doesn’t God stop this [insert evil behavior here] from happening?
• And so on …

A THOUSAND YEARS LIKE ONE DAY

In fact, the Lord’s timing can seem to us to be extraordinarily long and slow at times (2Pe 3:8–9; Psa 90:4), especially compared to our liking and expectations and also compared to today’s hyper fast-paced society and five-second attention span culture.

Let’s look at some examples from Scripture to guide us:[1]^, [2]

• The Israelites were held as slaves in Egypt for over four hundred years (Exo 12:40–41; Act 7:6–7)! Please put yourself in their shoes: Imagine living as a slave in Egypt and not seeing anything whatsoever happen to change that situation day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, generation after generation—for four hundred years. All that time, God seemingly didn’t see fit to free them from their yoke of slavery. Yes, Abraham was told this would happen, so they surely had to know what was going on,[3] and God’s promises were fulfilled exactly on time as He foretold (Gal 3:17). Still, this time of waiting must have been absolutely excruciating for the Israelites. I know it would have been for me if I had been there in slavery. By our limited human reasoning, there would seem to be no reason for God to delay like this, yet He did.
• Then there was Noah, who preached for one hundred twenty years straight, but not even one single person on earth listened to or believed him (outside his own family). Furthermore, Noah continued to build the ark all that time while seeing no need or cause for doing so other than God’s instruction to him (Gen 6:1–8; 1Pe 3:18–20; 2Pe 2:5; Heb 11:7). This must have taken a massive amount of courage, patience, and trust in the Lord on Noah’s part.
• Moses spent forty years in the Midian desert doing something that seems grossly mundane and unimportant—tending sheep (Exo 2:11–22; 3:1; Act 7:24–34). Surely, he would have wondered all this time why God wouldn’t “do something” about His people in Egypt. Moses also likely wondered if he had any purpose in life (I’m just guessing here, based on what I would have been thinking).
• Then there was King Saul, who didn’t wait on the Lord (1Sa 13:8–14). He had been instructed to wait for the prophet to come, but when the prophet delayed, Saul couldn’t handle it anymore. The king took things into his own hands and acted on his own timing—wrongly so.
• King David was told he would be king of Israel, but it took another ten years (approximately) for that to happen.
• When the Israelites were being led into the promised land, the Lord could have vanquished all their enemies at once, but He didn’t do that; instead, it took almost four hundred and fifty years (Act 13:19). Again, to our human, finite, and limited logic and reasoning, there would appear to be no reason for such a delay, but there obviously was. Matthew Henry writes:[4]

He would do it [in this case, driving the people out of the promised land for the Israelites] gradually, in wisdom (Exo. 23:29, Exo. 23:30), not all at once, but by little and little. As the Canaanites had kept possession till Israel had grown into a people, so there should still be some remains of them till Israel should grow so numerous as to replenish the whole. Note, The wisdom of God is to be observed in the gradual advances of the church’s interests. It is in real kindness to the church that its enemies are subdued by little and little; for thus we are kept upon our guard, and in a continual dependence upon God. Corruptions are thus driven out of the hearts of God’s people; not all at once, but by little and little; the old man is crucified, and therefore dies slowly. God, in his providence, often delays mercies, because we are not ready for them. Canaan has room enough to receive Israel, but Israel is not numerous enough to occupy Canaan. We are not straitened in God; if we are straitened, it is in ourselves. The land of Canaan is promised them (Exo. 23:31) in its utmost extent, which yet they were not possessed of till the days of David; and by their sins they soon lost possession.

Thus, we must understand that God’s timing is not ours (2Pe 3:8; Psa 90:4). Furthermore, God is never late (Hab 2:3; Heb 10:37; Gal 4:4; 2Pe 3:9, 15); instead, it is we who are impatient. God will accomplish all things according to His will and His timing, and the Word of God is always fulfilled right on time—His time (Isa 50:2; 55:10–11; 59:1; Num 11:23; 23:19; Eze 12:25; 1Sa 15:29; Pro 30:5; Psa.110:4; Mat 19:26; 24:35; Luk 1:37; Heb 10:35–37; Hab 2:3; cf. Gen 18:14; Isa 40:26; Psa 18:30; 19:7–10; 89:34). Scripture tells us that “God is not a man, that He should lie” (Num 23:19; cf. Rom 3:4; Tit 1:2), and every single word of Scripture and promise that God has made to us will come true.[5] Therefore, we can rely on Him and place our unconditional faith and trust in Him and His holy name (Pro 18:10; Isa 40:31; Psa 56:3–4; 91:2, 14; Rom 8:31–39; Rev 1:8) as we “wait for the Lord” (Psa 27:14) to accomplish His will according to His timing, not ours.

Moreover, know that even when it appears that God is not doing anything, He is still at work in the world (Heb 1:3; cf. Psa 24:1–2; 75:3; Col 1:17; Rev 4:11) and in and for us (Rom 8:28–31; Joh 1:4; 5:17; Php 1:6; 2:13; cf. Luk 18:7; 1Th 5:23–24; 1Pe 5:10; Heb 12:1–2; 1Co 1:8; 2Ti 2:13; Psa 138:8). Therefore, we can have “confidence” in Him[6] (see Php 1:6; 2Co 3:4; Eph 3:12; Heb 4:16; 10:35; 13:6; 1Jn 2:28; 3:21; 4:17; 5:14; Psa 71:5; 78:7; Pro 3:26; 14:26; cf. Act 4:13, 29). He is never idle and is often working in ways that we do not see or understand (Isa 55:8–9; cf. 1Co 2:16a).

GOD OFTEN WORKS IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS

We must realize and acknowledge that we do not have the mind of God, nor are we smarter than He is. It is often said that God works in mysterious ways (Isa 55:8–9; Rev 15:3; Psa 25:4; Pro 3:5; cf. 1Co 12:1–11). Let’s look at a few examples:

• God had told Joseph that he would reign over others (Gen 37:5–11), yet he was sold into slavery and imprisoned before that occurred (Gen 37:12–36; 39:1–40:23). I would have had a hard time being sold into slavery and trying to understand (logically) why that was happening, being unable to see far down the road how God would use it to accomplish His will.
• Abraham never saw the fulfillment of many of God’s promises to him (Heb 11:8–13), yet he continued on and fully trusted in the Lord.
• Peter had to stare doubt and denial of Christ in the face before he became mighty for the Lord (Mat 14:28–31; 26:33–35, 57–75).
• Noah had to build an ark without water or rain for one hundred twenty years, guided only by his trust in the Lord (Gen 6:9–22).
• Moses had to go into the desert for forty years for God to prepare him (Exo 2:11–22; 3:1; Act 7:24–34).
• Jesus had to face temptation before He could even begin His ministry (Mat 4:1–11; Mar 1:12–13; Luk 4:1–13).
• Jesus had to suffer before He was crowned in glory (Mat 27:24–50).
• Ruth had to go to a foreign land before her legacy through Naomi and Boaz would be realized—the direct line of the Messiah to come (Ruth 1:1–22; Mat 1:5).
• Daniel (Dan 7:9–10, 13–14, 28) and John (Rev 1:12–20; 10:8–11)[7] both glimpsed God’s glory, but each also had to see and write about prophecies of the coming persecution and suffering of their people for many years (the Jews and Christian saints respectively). That must have been hard—knowing final victory was assured, as well as seeing the unimaginable glory of the Lord, but also seeing how long it would take to play out in the world.

What’s common about these examples is that it would have been very hard to understand the mind of God as to why things were occurring the way they were and why (to us) things appear to be progressing excruciatingly slowly at times. It also may seem that God is moving us in the wrong direction, but, of course, it turns out later that is not the case.

Additionally, these examples demonstrate how God often prepares His people so they can be better used by Him later in life.[8] Perhaps this is happening to you right now, so there’s no need to be anxious about it. Ask yourself these questions during any period of waiting:

• Is my own stubbornness causing the delay (like the Israelites in the wilderness)?
• Am I doing things to get properly prepared while waiting?
• Is the littleness of my faith preventing God from moving forward in using me?

WAIT FOR THE LORD

We are told that God is “patient” with us (see 2Pe 3:9, 15; Rom 2:4; 9:22; 1Ti 1:16; 2:4; 1Pe 3:20; cf. Exo 34:6; Num 14:18; Psa 78:38; 86:15; 103:8; 145:8; Isa 30:18; Neh 9:17; Joe 2:13; Nah 1:3; Jon 4:2; Lam 3:22–23; Rom 3:25; Rev 2:21). Therefore, we should be patient with Him and also with others (1Th 5:14; 2Ti 2:24; 4:2; Gal 6:9). We further read that “patience” (see 1Co 13:4; 2Co 1:6; 6:6; Jas 5:7–10; Heb 6:12; Eph 4:2; Col 1:11; 3:12; 1Th 5:14; 2Ti 2:24; 3:10; cf. Heb 6:15) is one aspect of the “fruit of the spirit” (Gal 5:22–23), and we are told to “wait for the Lord”[9]^, [10] (see Psa 25:3; 27:14; 33:20–22; 37:7–9, 34; 39:7; 40:1; 62:5; 69:3; 106:13; 104:27; 130:5–6; Pro 8:34; 20:22; Isa 8:17; 30:18; 40:31; 64:4; Lam 3:25; Mic 7:7; cf. Rom 8:25; Gal 5:5; Jud 21; Gen 49:18), perhaps most famously by Isaiah:

Yet those who wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary. – Isa 40:31

Waiting on the Lord is intimately related to trusting Him and enduring all things until He sees fit to make changes for and with us and our circumstances.[11]^, [12] We are not the only ones to struggle with this issue. King David even wrote about feeling like the Lord had “forgotten him forever” (see Psa 13:1–2). But Scripture tells us:

• “I [Jesus] will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you” (Heb 13:5),
• “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Mat 28:20), and
• “I fear no evil, for You are with me” (Psa 23:4; cf. Mat 4:16; Luk 1:78–79; 2:32; Psa 44:19; 107:10–14; 1Co 15:55–57).

God sees and knows all things, and we must remember that Jesus has already won victory for us. So we live in His assurance—“the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb 11:1; cf. Heb 3:14; 6:11; 10:22; Rom 4:16–21)—as we patiently wait for all His promises to come true (eternal life, all things made new, etc.). Remember, He promises to change you into His likeness on “the last day” (Joh 6:39–40; 1Jn 3:2).[13]

Lastly, understand that God does things gradually in His time and wisdom, not in our time nor by our demands. Note that even the “good news” of the Gospel and salvation by the blood of Christ was progressively revealed to mankind over thousands of years (Rom 5:6; 16:25; 1Co 2:7; Eph 3:9; Col 1:26–27; 1Pe 1:12).

As you can see, Scripture has much to say on the matters of “patience” and “waiting for the Lord.” Let us take the verses cited in this chapter to heart when we are feeling rushed and therefore anxious, in a hurry, or trying to force our will and timing to be done instead of waiting on and working with God in His will and His timing (Mat 6:10; cf. Mat 26:42).

CHAPTER PRAYER

Father in heaven, thank You for all that You do. Father, help me realize that my will is not Your will and my timing is not Your timing. Help me understand deep down that You are causing all things to work together for the good of all those who love You and who are called according to Your purpose. Help me understand that Your timing is also for the benefit of others, not just myself. Father, please grant me a spirit of patience when I’m feeling rushed, nervous, or anxious and remind me to be full of grace and understanding when I teach or interact with other men and women. Help me show the same confidence that the great saints of the faith who came before me demonstrated as they waited for Your Word to perform its purpose. Many of them died without seeing the fulfillment of Your promises to them, but they stood firm in their faith anyway, undeterred and confident that You would never let them down, abandon them, or forsake them, and fully trusting that You heard their prayers. Amen.