In God’s Time

IN GOD’S TIME

By: C. Mason Davis

A man was speaking to God, and he asked him, "God is it true that to you a thousand years is a minute?" "That's true," God replied. "And is it true that to you $1,000,000 is like a penny?" "That's true," God said. "Well, you see I'm a poor man and I was wondering if you could give me a penny," asked the man. "Sure," said God, "in a minute.”

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

2 Peter 3:8 says, “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”

In life we're always waiting for something such as waiting for a dream to come true, waiting to meet the right person, or waiting for an answer to a life’s issue. When it's not happening as fast as we would like it's easy to get frustrated. But we must realize the moment you prayed to God He already knew what you’d ask for, as well as when He would answer your prayer. God knows the time you will meet the right person, when you’ll solve your life’s issue, when you’ll be healed, when you’ll get your promotion, and even when you’ll die. It may be tomorrow, or next week, or five years from now, but when you understand the time for anything and everything has already been set, it takes all the pressure off you. You’ll no longer need to live your life in worry, wondering when whatever is going to happen. You'll be able to relax and enjoy your life knowing that the promise has already been determined by our Creator.

The first thing we need to understand about God’s timing is that it is perfect, just as all of God’s ways are perfect. God’s timing is never early, and it’s never been late. In fact, from before our birth until the moment we take our last earthly breath, our sovereign God is accomplishing His divine purposes in our lifetimes. He is in complete control of everything and everyone from everlasting to everlasting. No event in history has put so much as a wrinkle in the timing of God’s eternal plan, which He designed before the foundation of the world. Our patience often reveals the degree of trust we have in God’s timing. We must remember that God operates according to His perfect and foreordained eternal schedule, not ours. We should take great comfort in knowing that, when we wait on the Lord, we receive divine energy and strength. Another key to understanding God’s timing is trust. In fact, our ability to wait on the Lord is largely related to how much we trust Him. God does indeed hear the cries of His children and will answer those cries according to His perfect will and timing.

Some of you may have been praying about an issue in your life for a long time. You may not see anything happening concerning your issue. You could easily be discouraged. Some may even come to blame God for their situation. You believe that you’re doing everything in life the right way, thus you shouldn’t have any issues or obstacles in life. I’m sure that we’d all love to be able to see into the future and know the exact day and time that God will provide the solution to our problems, but by giving us this information, we’d all start living like robots waiting for that day and time. Actually, we’d all stop living in freedom. We would all go through a lot of our daily rituals, but we would most likely stop trying. We would become a world of entitled brats. We wouldn’t life a life of faith, but a life of expectation. Of course, we’d no longer be discouraged from time to time, and if you take out the negative part of life, then you’ll never be able to know what is positive. Instead, we would be excited like little kids awaiting Christmas morning, knowing already what’s in each present with your name on it under the Christmas tree. You’d know the big day is coming. So, if you already know your future and where it’s going, then where’s the adventure? God allows life’s setbacks to keep us honest. To keep us believing in Him. We would all love to live a carefree life with no issues or stressful situations, ever. But life is hard! A harder life gives us each more of a purpose in living. For myself, I don’t want life to be easy. I want life to be worth it. If our lives were perfect and sin free, God knows that He’d be taken for granted, that no one would think that they need Him. We have to live with doubt. Not having doubt in God, but not having doubt in ourselves. With doubt living in our daily lives, we need to have faith in all that is good to overcome all that can be bad about life. Because God created us, because He is omnipresent, and because He knows all, we must have faith in Him and His instruction manual for our lives, The Bible. We must believe what it says, and we must live by His commandments in order to have eternal life, and all of this starts with faith. Deuteronomy 7:9 says, “Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations.” Here's where it takes faith. My question is, "Do you trust God enough to believe that your pre-determined times for your requests or your answers are coming"? When times are hard, we must show faith in God by praying for answers to those hard times. Are you willing to wait with a good attitude knowing that they're on their way? Are you willing to continue to live by His word knowing that one day your prayers will be answered?