God’s Timing

In a daily Scripture writing plan my life group has been challenged to do together, I recently wrote out Galatians 6:7-10. Verses 9-10 were definitely what I needed to hear that day:

“Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.“

Anyone else tired of waiting on God? Anyone ready to give up praying for a long time unanswered prayer need? Anyone exhausted from trying to pray for and carry each other’s burdens? I understand.

But this passage tells us not to get tired of doing what is good. And I read this to mean, if I give up, there may be no reaping of good that I will get to see. The earlier part of the passage talks about sowing what we reap…things of the flesh and things of the spirit. When we invest in spiritual things faithfully, without giving up, we can trust the Lord to bring about something good that honors Him.

I can look back and be reminded of God’s faithfulness over every single life situation, not once did He fail to be faithful…even when it took so long, years even. What if I’d given up praying for our prodigal that you may have learned about in my post last week, Sharing Our Prodigal Story? If I had, she may have still returned to the Lord and the family, but I would have lived years in hopelessness rather than releasing her to God and trusting His faithfulness.

Does His timing always look like what we would plan? No. We read in Isaiah 55 that His ways are not our ways and His plans are not our plans. As far as heaven is above the earth, His ways and thoughts are higher than ours. When it looks like He doesn’t care, that He’s not listening to my pleas, I will choose to stand on His Truth about who He is…faithful and true, ALWAYS!

What if Abraham hadn’t waited 40 years in the desert, patiently looking for next steps in His journey to father the Israelites through Isaac? What if Hannah hadn’t pled for years for a child without giving up before she bore Samuel? What if Noah had failed to keep on building the ark even when there was no rain for 100 years after the predicted flood? Their waiting in each situation (and so many more in scripture) is now a story of faith as they got to be a part of God’s big Gospel story that began pointing to Jesus in the Garden of Eden!

Our son-in-law Dan’s recent mini-stroke would have thrown me for one chaotic, fearful loop if I hadn’t been able to remember His faithfulness in the past, knowing He would walk us through this every step of the way. That is exactly what He is doing today as Dan continues to recover.

So, for all my current “unanswered prayers”, I choose to trust. I choose to listen to and read God’s Word as He speaks. I choose to hold on and endure to the end of the race of life. This does’t mean I won’t beg, cry out and even get mad at times. But it means I won’t give up seeking His best in each situation and asking forgiveness when I act out of His timing to make something happen!

Not knowing what is ahead in my time on earth, one thing I do know…I can fully trust God’s timing because I can fully trust His faithfulness. If you are struggling right now with something,I pray you will:

• Trust Truth in the midst of whatever it is
• Ask someone else to pray with you and for you
• Get godly counseling if you need it
• Stay in His Word
• Trust His heart

He will never fail you even if your prayer doesn’t get answered the way you thought would be best, or in the timing you thought would be best.

He can’t be anything other than who He is…our faithful, loving Lord Jesus.

P.S. Check out these earlier posts for more on this topic:

• Why Is He So Quiet?
• Are You In Between?
• Another Stop-Over “In-Between”
• Will We Ever Get There?
• Are You Listening?

I pray you will be encouraged!

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