“Questionable Timing”

 

Trusting in God’s timing can be difficult. Often when we hear a promise or word from God, we want to see instant changes and results. We love the testimonies in scripture of times when God acted “suddenly”, and circumstances were radically altered in an instant. Whether it is a situation of physical healing, emotional healing, provision, addiction, etc. we love the times where we hear of God doing an instantaneous miracle of transformation. What we don’t like nearly as much is waiting for the promise to manifest.

Why does God tell us He is going to do something if it is going to take a long time before it is evident? I think there’s a strategy that is good for us and actually benefits our relationship with God. The writer of Hebrews says that followers of Jesus must demonstrate faith in order to please God.  “Without faith, it is impossible to please God.”  God will always require faith!  Waiting requires faith. 

I came across this scripture today in Habakkuk: 

“I will stand on my guard post
And station myself on the rampart;
And I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me,
And how I may reply when I am reproved.
² Then the Lord answered me and said,
“Record the vision
And inscribe it on tablets,
That the one who reads it may run.
³ “For the vision is yet for the appointed time;
It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
For it will certainly come, it will not delay.”

Habakkuk 2:1-3

I believe all those who have a relationship with Jesus, can hear God’s voice. This is promised and declared countless times throughout scripture. Jesus demonstrated living in dependence on His connection with Father God while He was living as a man on earth. Jesus spoke with great faith that His current and future disciples would hear and be led by God’s voice and words to them. Jesus said that one of the purposes of the Holy Spirit is to remind us of all that Jesus and the Father have said and to reveal more of them to us. As one who believes in Jesus and continues to practice and grow in hearing God’s voice, it is my greatest desire that I would make decisions based on what God says to me. I want to live in a way that is yielded to His voice; always listening and following what I hear. In both big, life-altering decisions, as well as small every day, minor decisions, I want to be directed by the word of God.

Reading this passage in Habakkuk caused me to consider the timing and faithfulness of God’s words to us. We may assume that the things God speaks to us are for “now” or at least “soon” in terms of how we define time. But we also know and believe that God exists outside of time. In this passage Habakkuk is receiving instruction to record a word God is speaking to him for an appointed time. It is not for that specific moment, when it is being spoken by God and received by the prophet. God instructs him to write it down and assures him that it will come to pass. I love that it says the word from God will not fail! 

God’s promises are steadfast and secure. They are rooted in His character and guaranteed by His faithfulness. But timing is where we can get caught up in misunderstanding and discouragement. That is where I found this passage encouraging. God is giving the word to the prophet at this time and instructs him to record it. God is honest in saying that the word is for a future time. The promise is that it is an “appointed time”. That is encouraging to me. While the prophet is not informed of the specific time, he can rest assured that God knows and has planned for when this word is going to come to pass. It is also encouraging that God’s word to Habakkuk includes the promises that His word will not fail and will not delay. God knows both the time of completion of the promise and also the pace of the answer. God assures the prophet that he can wait for the fulfillment, knowing that it will be within the time God has chosen.

This passage can be wise instruction for us in how to wait for the fulfillment of the promises of God. We must believe that God is faithful, even when we grow tired of waiting. We can ask ourselves if we trust the timing of God. His timing may very well differ from our desired timing, but if we trust Him and believe that His word will not fail, then we can persevere in waiting.  If we believe that God is never late, then we can trust His timing and not judge it based on our understanding or desires.

As most things do, how we think and feel is determined by what we believe. Our beliefs about God and His character will greatly impact our experience of waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promises to us.