Waiting for Something? God's Timing
Did you know that in the book of Mark, the word for “immediately,” εὐθέως, is used more often than in the entirety of the rest of the New Testament? Scholars have long noted that Mark’s narration is focused on timing, and its story-telling effect is intentional. “The frequent use of the word helps show that Christ’s ministry has a divine purpose and a plan behind it.” In other words, the deliberate, urgent pacing of Mark’s Gospel emphasizes the intentional unfolding of events in Jesus’ life, from his baptism to his crucifixion. Jesus met each person exactly when and where He needed to.Galatians notes this in 4:4-7: “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son.”
Just as in the book of Mark, events in our lives unfold exactly as God ordains. As His followers we have the promise that Jesus will meet us exactly when, where, and how He needs to. Yet God’s timing is one of the most mysterious and often confounding aspects of a Christian life. Though we know that God’s timing is perfect, the relentless passing of time can making us feel powerless. We try to discern what God is doing in our lives, but sometimes it feels like we are walking forward blind-folded, groping around with our hands to try to find a way to make sense of the events and seasons of our lives.
If you have felt powerless, frustrated, or confused about the time you are facing right now, God is urging you to meditate on the fact that “His ways are higher than our ways,” when it comes to timing (Isaiah 55:8-9).
In the book of Revelation, John enters the throne room of God, where the heavenly beings and elders are worshipping at His feet. It is an incredible and awesome sight. In the throne room, God holds a scroll, which represents “God’s purposes for human history.” This scroll contains the fullness of God’s purposes and timing–the judgments that will be enacted on the earth in the end times, and the final fates of every single person who has ever lived. John weeps because no one can open the scroll. Then Jesus, the lamb, is judged worthy to open it. Jesus’ life and death gave Him authority to enact the ultimate purposes of God when and as He deems fit.
The timing of God is much bigger than the course of my life or your life. We must not become disconnected with the truth that as Christians the stories of our lives are woven into the larger story of the church. We want to rush God’s timing for our lives, but do you know what hangs in the balance? Lives, souls, and destinies are at stake. If you think that you have been waiting for an answered prayer, consider God. Even though this world is imperfect, broken, and the whole creation groans for redemption (Romans 8:22-24) God withholds the final judgment of the world so that more people may be saved (Romans 9:22-23). “What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory?”
What if that job or internship you didn’t get, or that promotion or move that has been deferred, is because God needs you where you are right now so that you can be a witness right where and when you are? Will you partner with God and endure with much patience what feel like “no’s” from God in the moment so that you can partner with His plan for all of creation?
Yet, the larger picture of God’s timing should not just challenge, but reassure us. God knows the good works He has already prepared you to do. I love how The Message puts it: “Now God has us where He wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus…He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing,” (Ephesians 2:7,10). Your circumstances right now are God’s set up for the good you’re supposed to do today.
Ecclesiastes 3 teaches that there are different seasons for every person: times of mourning, times of rejoicing, times of peace and conflict. As humans, we don’t like certain seasons that we go through–physically, emotionally, or spiritually. But it is part of God’s design for the world. Not every season can be summer; winter must come. Not every season is “on top of the mountain” in the Spirit. The valleys must come. Through all these seasons we come to a deeper and distinct revelation of God. And this intimacy is what we hold onto through the steadfast march of life. Don’t rush your season or wish for another one. Instead, embrace it.
We also have a comforter in the Holy Spirit and a God who knows that it can be hard to trust and find contentment where we are. The author of Ecclesiastes ensures us that “God has seen the burden He has laid upon man, yet He has made everything beautiful in its time.” God knows the burden you carry–what you’re waiting, hoping, dreaming, crying, and praying for. He has that med school application in His hand. He has finding a job in His hand. He has your grades and your financial burdens in His hand. He holds on to our lives, patient; He’s not rushed or worried about you. He’s not frustrated with you. He’s not waiting for you to say the right prayer or the right magic words. He simply wants you to come to Him and learn how to be with Him where you are, to exist with Him so that He can whisper the secrets and comforts of His timing to you. He is simply the I AM, dwelling in the fulfillment of all things through Jesus, yet awaiting the day His world will taste the fullness of that fulfillment. Let’s rejoice in that today.
Application: 15 minutes:
–10 minutes: Read Revelation Chapter 4. What does this picture of the throne room demonstrate for us, as we wait in eager expectation for God in our lives?
-Take 5 minutes to pray and reflect about God’s timing. Write down any questions you have about God’s timing in your own life. Read them to God!