Trusting in God’s timing is a theme throughout the Scriptures. Abraham and Sarah had to wait twenty-five years for their son Isaac to be born. The people of the Old Testament waited for the coming of the Messiah. David waited fifteen years to become king of Israel.
As our lives unfold, we spend a fair amount of time waiting. We wait in line at the store, for a doctor’s report, to get married, or to have a child. An older person may be waiting to go to heaven. Although we don’t like to wait, there is value in waiting. God does some of His best work in our lives as we wait on His timing.
We may think we are just waiting, but the Lord has a purpose for our waiting. King Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 3:1For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.[1]
When I Struggle with God’s Timing
I don’t like waiting, but it usually has unexpected consequences when I don’t wait on God’s timing. This is true not only for me but for everyone else, also. In our story, Rachel could not become pregnant and decided she had a better plan than the Lord.
Genesis 30:1When Rachel saw that she wasn’t having any children for Jacob, she became jealous of her sister. She pleaded with Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!” 2 Then Jacob became furious with Rachel. “Am I God?” he asked. “He’s the one who has kept you from having children!” 3 Then Rachel told him, “Take my maid, Bilhah, and sleep with her. She will bear children for me, and through her, I can have a family, too.”[2]
Rachael, in her impatience, would not make her life better by having a child through Bilhah. Rachael is just a microcosm of what we all experience when we take matters into our own hands instead of waiting on God’s timing.
God’s Timing Builds our Faith
Our Lord knows everything, but our sight is limited. God sees the big picture, but we can only see what is in front of us. As we wait on God’s timing, we begin to see the wisdom in the Lord asking us to wait.
Simeon waited a lifetime to see the Messiah, and one day the Lord guided him by the Holy Spirit to go to the Temple in Jerusalem. Luke 2:29 “Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace, as you have promised. 30 I have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared for all people. 32 He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel!” [3]
The Lord kept His promise, and that strengthened Simon’s faith. Where in your life is the Lord calling you to wait? Think about the good the Lord is bringing out of this season, which may not be evident right now.
To hear more about trusting in God’s timing, listen here:
https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/god-uses-the-dysfunctional
[1-3] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation . Tyndale House Publishers.