In Due Time...

May 20, 2009

Danielle Joyner Kelley

“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” 2 Peter 3:8.

How often do you watch the clock? Better question: how often do you watch the clock while you are waiting for God to solve a problem in your life?

Frequently, we run around in a hurried frenzy trying to get everything done. Not only do we do this, but we expect others to as well. What do you do if the driver ahead of you in traffic is not moving fast enough for you?

The problem is when we expect God to cater to our own timing of things. We want Him to move quickly. This is especially true because we usually do not go to Him until something is terribly wrong. When we feel pain and suffering, we have a since of urgency and our “do it right now” mentality grows more prevalent.

What is time? Do you think God is somewhere saying, “Well it is 3 PM in the Mountain Time Zone of the United States so I better hurry up?” Or, “Are they on daylight savings yet? Is it ‘spring forward’ or ‘fall back’ time?” Not likely.

The problem is that when we come to Him with a problem, we usually have spent years getting ourselves into the mess when He was warning us and we ignored it. Then we expect Him to act in a second’s time to take it all away. Again: not likely.

We have lessons we have to learn. When we go years doing everything for ourselves, not trusting in Him, only going to Him when everything goes wrong, and then we turn around and blame Him, what does it look like? We struggle, sweat, break the rules, and run around trying to fix something that we knew was wrong and then we grow tired, impatient, and frustrated and run to God. We run up and tell Him, “Okay I get the point. Fix this now please.” Once again: not likely.

It is not likely to happen not because He does not love you, but because He knows the danger of you walking around doing things without Him. This world is evil, and you have an enemy constantly putting trip wires in front of you. He knows you will fall if you do not come to Him. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6.

And still He remains with us, watching us even when we act so selfish. He wants you to come to Him, so you will have guidance and protection in all that you do. He knows that He will not fail you. “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9.
We forget that He is not on our time schedule, but we are on His. Everything is made perfect in His timing. If you get your way about something before He was ready for you to, you may feel great that you got what you wanted, but you got it without a warranty or a guarantee. You may lose it because you do not trust Him with whatever it is. “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:17. “…in him all things hold together” sounds like a sure thing to me.

When you do start to seek God and His word, do not expect your enemy to help you get rid of your impatience issues. Scripture tells us everything we need to know to survive, and your enemy twists it to deceive you and make you doubt. When going through a problem and asking God to tell you why it is happening, you may find the scripture, “'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.' Jeremiah 33:3. So you think, “Good!” and you ask Him to tell you why. Then you get no answer. So you keep asking, and then when you still don’t hear an answer what do you think? That He isn’t listening? That He isn’t real? That you are being punished? That the scripture is not true? Who gave you that thought? Is the God who loved you enough to allow His Son to die on the Cross for you willing to sell you up the river now? Not only is that not likely, it is an absolute no.

You can read the scripture and tell yourself, “Well I called to Him and He did not tell me anything.” What don’t you see at the end of that scripture? Does it say He will “tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know” followed by “the very second you finally ask?” No. It does not tell you when He will reveal that to you.

All too often when we read His word we put our own conditions and thoughts on it. You can’t. That is, not if you expect it to actually work in your life. You need to let the Spirit guide you and not your own desires. “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation.” 2 Peter 1:20.

Read the entire Bible; do not just isolate a scripture. When you isolate you allow your enemy to mislead you into not understanding the truth and falling into doubt. If you grow frustrated and give up right away because you do not feel like you are getting an answer from Him, how do you know that the very next line would not have told you what to do? If you are willing to give up that easy, do not expect to get the answer. You have to keep working at it and resolve to not give up. “By standing firm you will gain life.” Luke 21:19. When you read a book do you skip half the chapters in the middle?

We expect people to work for what they get. When they do not and have everything handed to them, our society reacts in a bad manner, usually. Admit it, when you read that someone in your town won the lottery, you want it to be the poor housekeeper who does not have a dime to her name and not the millionaire on the other side of town.

You keep working to grow in your relationship with Him even when you feel like you cannot. When you make yourself work through the bad times, God is watching. And you are displaying confidence in Him when you do. “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” Hebrews 10:35-36. He sent His son to die for your sins and you did not do anything to earn that. Your salvation comes from His loving grace. So why do you expect to have a complete free ride while you are on Earth? You need to be willing to show your love and commitment to Him. When you want to impress someone you work at it. Why not do the same for Him?

Throw your internal clock away. Ask Him to take over your schedule. And when you feel like things are not moving quickly enough, stop and talk to Him. Even if you feel like you are not getting an answer, dig your heels in and do not give up. Sometimes you have to be quiet to understand that God is doing something in your life. People run around in a hurry, talking fast, and making so much noise through their actions while they are impatient. Sit still, wait and listen. Do not let anyone or anything disrupt you or cause you to doubt even if you feel things are taking a long time. “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.” Psalm 37:7.

Trust me; you do not want to fix things ahead of His schedule. You may think you do so you can tell everyone how awesome you are and how you solved your problem, but your solution will be nothing compared to His, and you are not protected in your own self-comfort. Everything could blow up on you in an instant. Remember His timing is perfect, and His will is more important than your pride. “The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.” Ecclesiastes 7:8.

Think for a minute. If your five year old asks you to drive the car, what will you say? Chances are, “You aren’t allowed to do that until you are sixteen and maybe not even then.” Why? How about because you don’t want them to kill themselves and you know what is best? You know that a five-year-old cannot drive a car? Why? Because they are not tall enough? They can’t reach the petals? No one has taught them to?

Exactly. When it comes to driving here on Earth, your timing is better because you have driven before, and you see the big picture. You understand they are too young and cannot reach the petals and they do not know what they are doing. Now remember you are God’s child. He does not want you driving because: (1) you cannot reach the petals either; (2) you do not know what you are doing; (3) you are not experienced enough to drive in a world full of people speeding and honking; (4) He knows other drivers will affect your driving pattern and cause you to be unsafe; (5) He knows how to drive and what is safe for you; and (6) He knows you will be a much better driver if you study and wait for the day you take your test. “In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.” Proverbs 16:9.

While you are sitting and waiting, you have no choice but to have hope. If you are truly focused on Him and you refuse to give up because you know He will take care of you, you have hope. He tells us as much. “But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” Romans 8:25. Do not give up, and when you refuse to and you refuse to doubt even though everything is trying to get you to, you are solidifying your hope in Him. “We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure.” Hebrews 6:11.

From that we know that waiting and trusting in Him is hope, but waiting and trusting is also work. However, it is working for God, and that is the most important work of all. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Colossians 3:23-24.

When you do this, God is guiding your paths through His Spirit. “I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths.” Proverbs 4:11. Notice that the scripture says “paths”. Going down a path means you walk it; you do not just take a step. That means that you have done the work to walk, and the work to wait.

When you are waiting for His answer and trusting in Him you are growing stronger. “But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded." 2 Chronicles 15:7. When you grow impatient you fall into weakness. Have joy that you are being taught a valuable lesson so you can walk stable in your future steps. “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Romans 5:3-5.

Perseverance means that you are persistent and determined. Persistence means that you keep doing something over and over. Over and over means it takes time. So to develop perseverance you must go through time waiting for something, such as an answer, but you keep going forward anyway. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4.

And every step you take on your path is not in vain. The more difficult the step, God is watching. He sees when you walk in difficulty and keep going forward anyway. “I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.” Revelation 3:8.

Although your circumstances may change do not allow them to cause you to doubt. You may get through one bad situation with God only to abandon Him when you are going through another. Remember, He is always there. God is the same today, tomorrow, and forever. "I the LORD do not change.” Malachi 3:6. Sounds like dependability to me.

As for me, I can say with full confidence I no longer have an interior clock. All my clocks are now rescheduled to God’s timing. Although I do not know what His timing is, I can say that I will arrive right on time, perfectly dressed, noticeable, and honored because He is driving me and with me when I walk into the room.

And whether man says I must “spring forward” or “fall back” my heart will remain on His time. I will not allow anyone to rush me, or challenge my understanding of what time I should arrive.

I can do this simply because my mantel no longer holds numbers and hands.

Instead, I personally am being held with hands and grace.