Understanding God's TimingSample

We know that God always answers our prayers. His answers may not be what we want to hear at that time. My wife and I often remind each other that His answers can be “yes,” “no,” or “not yet.” This simple expression highlights that our sense of timing is frequently not aligned with God’s. Am I saying that our finite, impatient, short-sighted understanding of the world is not the same as that of the all-knowing, all-powerful, sovereign God of the universe? I am.

This struggle to understand God’s timing impacts every believer at some point. People throughout the ages have questioned God’s timing. How often have we asked God why, when, or how long? We try to be patient, but sometimes waiting upon our perfect, all-powerful, sovereign God is difficult. In Isaiah, God tells us that His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. In other words, we don’t know what God is planning or thinking. But, in Romans 8, we are told that God works all things together for our good. What about when God seems silent? What about when His answer appears to be “not yet?” What are we to do then?

Over the next few days, we will examine a few Biblical examples of real people struggling with God’s timing. These are no trivial matters. Each of these stories deals with matters of life and death. These issues kept people up at night. These problems were so critical to them that they became all-consuming. And as they worried about the future, that worry was displayed in their actions.

Our first example comes from the Gospel of John – the story of the death of Jesus’ good friend, Lazarus. Martha confronted Jesus and said that if He had just come to Bethany a few days earlier, her brother would not have died. In Genesis 15, Abraham and Sarah worried about having a son. Why did they have to wait until they were “as good as dead” (Hebrews 11:11-12) to receive the promised heir? Finally, in Ruth 3, Naomi schemed to solve her financial problems by getting Boaz to marry Ruth.

Martha, Abraham, Sarah, and Naomi each had an issue with God’s timing. They either expressed their concerns to God or took matters into their own hands. One benefit of studying God’s Word is that we can learn from those who have gone before us. These are real stories of real people that God has placed in His word. Their concerns and emotions, be they anger, laughter, or fretting, show us that God’s love extends to all areas of our lives. We can feel free to go to God with our emotions and frustrations. He understands our needs and even our impatience to see those needs met. But we can also know that, like these stories that He has given to encourage us, God will always act in our best interests and His timing is perfect.