In our culture everything is fast. Cars, planes, computers, phones, food, music and more. We like to take action, be proactive, maximize our efficiency, and everything else to squeeze every last ounce of time out of each day.
What I've found in my own journey is that it is extremely difficult if not impossible to hear God's voice in the middle of the hustle and bustle of life. For that it takes real effort on our behalf. I don't like it. I wish God would shoot me a text while I'm at work that says, "Stephen, give to this cause, encourage this brother, send your kid to this school, keep your mouth shut on this issue, open your mouth on this one...". Unfortunately He doesn't communicate like that most of the time. In order to get a clear understanding of His directions it typically involves quietness, searching, praying, asking, and at times, fasting. Even doing all of those things it can prove to be quite a challenge.
I often wonder why He chooses to meet with us in this manner. I mean, if it was my world and my way I would allow each human to hear directly from me through telepathy or something. Why keep them guessing? Why keep them waiting? I'm not sure. All I know is what is. So since I'm not God and I don't make the rules I have to accept the way things are.
I tend to think that it used to somehow be different for people in the Bible like they had a cell phone God would call them on when He needed them for something. When I study the scripture however, what I see is the same thing that we face today.
*Jesus made the disciples almost wet their pants when their ship was being tossed in a storm. He made them wait until His nap was over before calming the storm.
*Jesus made Mary and Martha wait until their brother had been dead for four days before He would come to heal/resurrect him.
*Jesus watched the disciples work their tails off all night before telling them where to cast their nets.
*Jesus made the disciples wait three days and three nights before He rose from the grave.
*He made them wait again for the Holy Spirit.
In each of those situations one might conclude that God is not concerned at all with syncing His schedule with our calendars. That's frustrating. Just keeping it real but seriously, if we were honest we might say something like, "Oh sure God, it must be nice not having any time limitations like You but we actually do. Maybe you can throw us a bone here while we wait?".
Yet, I have found on numerous occasions that God has a specific timetable for everything that happens and when we rush His timetable it messes things up. Here is what I have learned about His timing:
His timing is superior to ours because His viewpoint is superior to ours.
Let's say for instance that you wanted to invest in the stock market. You don't know much about investing so you need financial advice. On the one hand you have an adviser who has over 50 years of experience with trading stocks. On the other hand you have a guy who doesn't know a lot about stocks but he has the unique ability to see one day into the future. Which one would you choose? Anyone with any sense would choose the guy with the ability to see into the future because his viewpoint could tell you to buy or sell. His viewpoint alone is reason enough to trust him over 50 years of experience.
This is why God's timing is so much better that ours. Our viewpoint is limited by time. God's viewpoint is not bound by the constraints of time. He looks into the future clearly. For this reason alone it makes sense that we trust His timing. That's actually not the only reason we should trust His timing.
His timing is superior to ours because His knowledge base is more vast than ours.
It's not just that He can see what will happen but He also knows all the hidden details that we can't see. There are times where I want to help a situation but I experience resistance from God. He purposely makes it extremely difficult if not possible to "fix" things and He says, "Step back. Wait. Not yet."
As frustrating as it can be, we have to trust that He sees more than we ever will in regards to what's going on behind the scenes and what is going on on the inside of a person's heart. In addition, He's worked in the lives and hearts of humans for a long time and knows what will work and when. He knows when a person is hurting too much to hear you. He knows when a person's heart is perfectly ripe to listen. He knows all of our secrets.
Many times God has sent people into my life at just His right time. A young kid at my last job had a very rough upbringing. He got made fun of his whole life and his family was verbally abusive. He was searching. One day we got onto the subject of his past and he began to go into detail about some of the things that family members told him as a child that I could tell still affected him. As he began to share I just began crying. Not like I have a tear here and there but seriously breaking down into crying (Which Stephen doesn't often do) because it was like I felt the hurt he must have felt going through it. It really touched him. I could tell he probably had never come across anyone that actually cared about him like that and it meant alot to him. He was only at that workplace about two weeks after that and I was gone from that job several weeks after that. He still texts me now and again. I think he needed to see that God still cared about him despite his trauma. God orchestrated that event.
His timing is superior to ours because His power is so far beyond ours.
Mankind has made some pretty impressive strides in technology. We can split an atom, transplant an organ, talk to people on the other side of the globe, and travel at speeds faster than a bullet. Sounds impressive! Now try creating a new universe on a specific dimension different than yours full of galaxies, stars, planets, and asteroids. Keep the number of the grains of sand on each planet in your mind at all times. Now orchestrate the functioning of each of these galaxies in this universe together. Got that? Good. Now insert a species of several billion individuals each with a stubborn will of their own. You have to keep every hair on their head numbered too. Answer all of their conflicting prayers according to your plan.
Hopefully you see where I'm going with this. It's not just that His plan is a little better than ours. His plan is so far beyond ours it's not even funny. He has more than enough power to fix your situation. His power keeps the universe from exploding on itself. Part of His strength is the management of our world. That management includes a path and a plan for your life. Do we really think we can fix a situation better than He who created us and our surroundings? An Egyptian Pharaoh thought he could fix things better than God once. That was right before his army got plastered on the bottom of the sea. There have been many who sought to eliminate God's chosen ones over the millenia. They all ended in failure and annihilation because the were up against an unbeatable foe.When we realize the enormity our Creator God we can't help but want to wait for His timing because timing truly is everything!
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