God's Timetable

​        In America today, we live in an instant gratification society. We are used to having most things exactly when, where and how we want them. We can get virtually any food that we want at any time day or night. We have access to unlimited information about any subject at anytime, with just a click of a computer mouse.  In times like these, it can be a challenge for some people, even Christians, to wait for the things that they ask God for in prayer. It is a tempation for some Christains to become impatient while waiting on the Lord, but the Bible shows us that we must wait for Him to do His Will.
          God does everything on His own Time, because His Mind and Thoughts are so much greater than ours.  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)  God has promised to take care of faithful Christians, and when we pray, we must be sure to wait for God to work things out for our good. This may mean that He will give us a quick answer to our prayer, or it may mean that we will have to wait for a day, or a week, or even for months and years before we see God’s Will fulfilled. The main focus that we must have in these sitautions is to remain patient and to put our trust in God completely, because He will always work everything out for our good if we are obedient to Him at all times “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28).
          There are many examples in the Bible of those who caused problems within their own lives because they insisted on putting God on their timetable rather than waiting patiently for God’s Timing to take place. The most famouse example in the Bible would be Abraham.
          Abraham was already an old man when God told him that he would have many descendants. Genesis 15:3-6 says, “And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.”
        Abraham believed that the Lord was True to His Word, however, he became impatient. Rather than waiting on the Lord to give him the child that He had promised to give him through his wife, Sarah, Abraham bore a child with Hagar the Egyptian. This child, named Ishmael, would grow up to have descendants that would cause trouble for the descendants of Abraham’s son, Isaac, who was the child that God had promised him. The opposition that these two groups faced throughout history can still be seen in the Middle East today.
          All of this could have been avoided if Abraham had just waited on God to do what He saw fit to do in His own time. After God had told Abraham that he would have descendants, Abraham had to wait 25 years before being given Isaac. Some might consider twenty five years to be a long time to wait for a prayer to be answered, so Abraham’s example should encourage faithful Christians, to not get upset if we find that God chooses to not answer our prayers right away. A prayer request that is not answered the same day, or even the same week, month, or year in which we made the request was still heard by God, and  He will give His answer in His own time. We should not become impaitient as Abraham did and continue to place our trust in our Heavenly Father, who will always give us everything we need in this Life and the one hereafter! “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”(Jeremiah 29:11).
 
 

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