Life Principles for Living Out the Greatest CommandmentÀpẹrẹ

Is God Ever Going to Act?

While Jeroboam heard God’s plan for his life, he seemed to want to help Him accomplish the plan right then, putting his cart before his horse. I know someone else who does that too: me. I know all too well how this works: I think I have received a specific word…so I begin working all the angles to bring it to pass.

Loving God with our whole hearts requires having patience to wait for God to move. We submit to His timing. Scripture contains the memo in 2 Peter 3:9 I always miss: Although it feels like He’s late, God is always on time.

The choice to rebel against God’s timing is a heart issue. We want God’s promise now. We fear that if we wait we might miss the blessing, or maybe this great thing will never happen. We think, I’d better act now, before it’s too late.

The truth is, just as for Barak, our fear of forfeiting our blessing while we wait on God’s timing is misplaced. God will not give your hero-making moment to another unless you refuse to believe Him. Even then, I’ve known Him to be gracious. Many times I have waited for God to do what He said He would do, only to lapse into discouragement, questioning my ability to hear Him. This is not what Jeroboam was doing. He was taking the blessing prematurely by force.

Choosing not to await God’s perfect timing—attempting to orchestrate His blessing ourselves—is always disastrous. When Solomon eventually died, everything changed within a matter of days. Solomon’s son Rehoboam acted upon advice that convinced the majority of people to reject him as king, inadvertently facilitating Jeroboam’s ideal opportunity—just as God promised. The prophecy became Jeroboam’s reality.

However, when Jeroboam perceived problems on the horizon, instead of relying on the Word of God, he forged his own path. Unfortunately, that progression of heart-to-thought is familiar to me too. I lose sight of what God said, exaggerating my challenges through my “life lenses.” Overwhelmed with a sense of urgency to act, I start thinking my way is the only solution. This is where heroes are lost, and this is exactly what happens to Jeroboam.

Let us not miss the blessing because we have given up on God’s timing. He will not be late. We will not be disappointed.