WHAT DOES THE BIBLE TEACH US ABOUT GOD’S TIMING? He looked down on the Israelites and felt deep concern for their welfare. (Exodus 2:25) GOD’S RESCUE COMES IN HIS TIMING, NOT OURS. God had promised to bring the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt (Genesis 15:16; 46:3-4). The people had waited a long time for that promise to be kept, but God rescued them when he knew the right time had come. God knows the best time to act. When you feel that God has forgotten you in your troubles, remember that God has a time schedule that we can’t see. How long, O God, will you allow our enemies to mock you? Will you let them dishonor your name forever? (Psalm 74:10) GOD’S TIMING WILL NOT BE AFFECTED BY OUR IMPATIENCE. From our perspective, God sometimes seems slow to intervene on our behalf. But what might appear slow to us is good timing from God’s perspective. It’s easy to become impatient while waiting for God to act, but we must never give up on him. When God is silent and you are in deep anguish, follow the method in this psalm. Review the great acts of God throughout biblical history; then review what he has done for you. This will remind you that God is at work, not only in history, but also in your life today. Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his public ministry. (Luke 3:23) THE NATURE OF GOD’S TIMING REQUIRES THAT WE PRACTICE TRUST. Imagine the Savior of the world working in a small-town carpenter’s shop until he was thirty years old! It seems incredible that Jesus would have been content to remain in Nazareth all that time, but he patiently trusted the Father’s timing for his life and ministry. Thirty was the prescribed age for priests to begin their ministry (Numbers 4:3). Joseph was thirty years old when he began serving the king of Egypt (Genesis 41:46), and David was thirty when he began to reign over Judah (2 Samuel 5:4). Age thirty, then, was a good time to begin an important task in the Jewish culture. Like Jesus, we need to resist the temptation to jump ahead before receiving the Spirit’s direction. Are you waiting and wondering what your next step should be? Don’t jump ahead-trust God’s timing. When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. (Romans 5:6) GOD’S TIMING IS PERFECT. We were weak and helpless because we could do nothing on our own to save ourself. Someone had to come and rescue us. Not only did Christ come at a good time in history; he came at exactly the right time-according to God’s own schedule. God controls all history, and he controlled the timing, methods, and results of Jesus’ death. You must not forget, dear friends, that a day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise to return, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so He is giving more time for everyone to repent. (2 Peter 3:8-9) GOD’S TIMING IS CONTROLLED BY HIS COMPASSION. God may have seemed slow to these believers as they faced persecution every day and longed to be delivered. But God is not slow; He just is not on our timetable (Psalm 90:4). Jesus is waiting so that more sinners will repent and turn to him. We must not sit and wait for Christ to return, but we should live with the realization that time is short and that we have important work to do. Be ready to meet Christ any time, even today; yet plan your course of service as though He may not return for many years.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Jun 2013 14:50:08 +0000
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