Matthew 2:1-23
Luke 2:21-40
2 Peter 3:8-9
1 Samuel 13:5-14
Waiting on God’s Timing
I think that almost every Christmas pageant, Christmas card and manger scene that you see has the wise men showing up at the stable. Even the movie, “the Nativity Story” has them at the stable. It’s not wrong to have them at the stable; it is just not very likely. It does make for a nice compact scene.
Herod had his death squads kill all the boys under the age of two because the wise men told him that the star appeared about two years earlier. That means that these royal astrologers had been traveling for anywhere up to two years in order to see this newborn king!
You’d hope that Joseph had moved Mary and Jesus out of the barn by that time.
I’m not saying this for you to get you knickers in a not every time you see wise men at the stable scene. I’m telling you because we need to know that God’s timing is not always our timing. Mary, Joseph and Jesus could have used that gold at the stable, but they had to wait up to two years for the gifts – it likely came in handy when they were refugees in Egypt!
The wise men traveled for two years to see a child that a star had told them about! The baby could have been talking before they arrived!
There are others who did not journey, but waited much longer for this child.
Luke 2:21-40
Simeon had been told by the Holy Spirit that he would see the promised Messiah before he died. Who knows what he imagined he would see. But he is now an old man, you might wonder if he had begun to doubt the promise, or his ability to hear as he felt closer and closer to the grave and still no Messiah. But finally, the Spirit wakes him up one morning and says “get up, go to the temple, the messiah will be there. When the old man takes Jesus in his arms, he says,
“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you may know dismiss your servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
A light for revelation to the Gentiles
and the glory of your people Israel”
I tell these two stories to say that God’s timing doesn’t often fit our schedules. The journey doesn’t take a few days and end at the stable – it takes a few years. The promise is not fulfilled the day after it is given, if is fulfilled in the last hour. The magi waited two years to see the king, Simeon waited his whole life, Israel waited 100s of years… What are you waiting for?
I just read an article by James Loney, the Christian Peace Maker who was held in captivity in Iraq with three other men for 118 days more than a year ago. He wroyte that the hardest part was the waiting – the conditions were rough and uncomfortable, but the time was what was most difficult.
What are you waiting for? Are you waiting for a loved one to find Christ? Are you waiting for a loved one to find you? Are you waiting for healing? Are you waiting for peace? Are you waiting for direction?
I think that the greatest temptation that we have when we are waiting for God’s timing is to take things into our own hands – force God’s hand and get things moving.
The first king of Israel fell to this temptation.
Saul had restarted the war against the Philistines, in I Samuel 13, Israel’s warriors had gathered to fight the Philistines. The Philistines had a huge army, far outnumbering Israel’s and definitely out powering Israel in technology. When the men in Saul’s army saw that they were in for a rout, they began to desert.
Now, you couldn’t go into battle without offering an offering to God, so Saul and his army were waiting for the prophet and priest Samuel to come and make the offering. The day that he was supposed to be there came and went & Samuel didn’t come. More of Saul’s men left. Another day came and went and more men left. In the end they waited seven days and they only had 600 men left to fight against thousands of Philistines. Saul finally got tired of waiting, and he assumed the role of the priest and made the offering. As soon as he was finished, Samuel showed up.
This is what it says: 1 Samuel 13:11-14
Saul’s decision to step outside the bounds that God had set was the beginning of the end for him – God’s favor left him, and he began to make bad decision after bad decision until he was killed with no descendant to take the throne.
This story is a word of warning for us as we wait on God’s promises.
When we are called to wait, wait.
Trust God
You can understand Saul’s impatience – his enemy was only getting stronger and his own army was only getting weaker – Samuel was seven days late, something had to be done!
There are times in our own life that against all appearances, God is in control, and we need to wait on his timing – God’s timing is always perfect – Gandalf – “a wizard is never late, he always arrives just when he wants to.”
God sees the big picture, and he knows what he is doing.
Simeon had been waiting his whole life for the messiah, he may have had opinions about when a good time for the messiah to come was, but Paul writes; “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. – Galatians 4:4-5
God knew when the right time was for the redemption of all creation, and he knows what the right time is to fulfill his promises in your life.
Peter when writing to the 1st century Christians who were impatient to see Jesus return says this, “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The lord is not slow in keeping his promise as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:8-9
Wait within the bounds that God has set.
Saul stepped outside of his role as king and took the role of priest that was not his to take. Later in life, he was asking God about a battle, but God was silent, so he went way outside God’s boundaries and visited a medium to get his answer.
There are times when we are so impatient with God that we are tempted to go outside his boundaries to get our answer. There maybe some of you who are struggling in your marriage relationship, and another relationship looks a lot like the salvation that you’ve been asking for. You’ve got to know that God won’t call you to leave your spouse for another to get you out of a difficult situation – it’s against his law.
You may be desperate to see a loved one come to Christ, so You may be tempted to try your best to manipulate them into the kingdom. But that too is not God’s way. Peter writes “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” – 1 Peter 3:15 Manipulation has neither gentleness or respect.
Waiting does not mean passivity
In the very next chapter, Jonathan, Saul’s son is tired of waiting too, so he says to his armor bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the Lord will act in out behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.” So they go and God fights for them and they begin the rout of the Philistine army.
So there are times when we are supposed to wait and do nothing until God works, and there are other times when we are to get moving and God will use us to accomplish his goals.
How do we know whether we are walking through the door that God has opened, like Jonathan, or forcing the door open against God like Saul?
There is much to be said on this – the Alpha Course “How does God Guide Us” is great. But I think what can be seen through Saul and Jonathan is that attitude is everything.
For Saul, God was there to support his purposes – he needed God to work so that Saul could get what he wanted. For Jonathan, he was there to support God’s purposes – Jonathan wanted to work so that God could get what He wanted.
Saul thought God was his Servant, Jonathan knew he was God’s Servant.
How do we wait?
Wait. Patiently.
Stay within God’s bounds.
Be God’s Servant.
