God’s timing is something I have always struggled with. Why don’t I get exactly what I want exactly when I think I need or deserve it? This may be a side effect of the world I grew up in, however I grew up in the Church and this concept still took me awhile to understand fully.
It wasn’t until I was 18-years-old until I fully understood God’s timing. Throughout high school, I was in and out of a relationship that I thought was wonderful and that I absolutely needed to be in. Each time we broke up I begged and pleaded to God for it to work out. This caused a whole lot of stress on me because it never seemed to pan out how I wanted it to. I couldn’t figure out why God didn’t want this for me because I obviously knew what was best for me, right?
Towards the end of the summer right before I left for college, we broke up again. I couldn’t believe this happened again. We had a plan. Everything was going to be perfect. But our plan was not God’s plan.
It wasn’t even two months into college and I knew exactly why God didn’t give me what I thought I had deserved. On a church retreat with the Church of Christ Student Center, playing the card game Phase 10, I met the most incredible man. A man who loves the Lord more than he could ever love me. A man who would bring me closer to the Lord than I could have ever imagined. A man who is impressively patient with me and I know who will always provide for me. A man who is just so kind, smart and funny. I could go on and on, but these qualities are what every Christian woman looks for, yet I had never experienced this.
God knew what was ahead for me. If I would have waited for that high school relationship to come back around, I would have never met the man of my dreams who I’ve been happily with for two years now.
I wanted God’s timing to fall into my plan. Whereas, I should have just been waiting for God’s timing to do His work. Even though it may seem like God’s will is taking a long time, wait on it because it will come (Habakkuk 2:3).
There are several instances of God’s perfect timing in the Bible such as Abraham and Sarah in the book of Genesis. God declared Abram’s name be changed to Abraham because he was going to be the father of many nations. Many found this funny because Abraham and Sarah were far too old to have children and they didn’t even have any children to begin with. However, nothing is too hard for the Lord (Genesis 18:14). Soon after, Isaac was born. If the Lord can allow someone who is almost 100 years old to have a baby, imagine what He can do for you.
Remember His timing is always perfect and on time. “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).