God's Timing vs. Our Timing

by Melissa J | More from this Blogger

29 Sep 2006 09:25 AM

You've been in prayer, repented of your sins, you are pleading with God very selflessly with faith, and nothing has been happening. Yes, it can be so frustrating. A friend of mine used to ask God if He was on a coffee break or something, because He wasn't finding the urgency in a situation she was.

Probably most of us have felt this way. Simply put, God does not work on our time. "...with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." (2 Peter 3:8). Our time often reflects impatience and/or selfish motive. If you have learned anything about God, you probably have figured out, He's patient! If you haven't learned patience, He'll be happy to teach it to you.

His ways are also perfect. I think it's easy to forget that we only see a fraction of any situation. We don't know better than God does. You might recall from Isaiah 40:22 the inhabitants of the earth described as grasshoppers. We are so inferior to our Creator of heaven and earth. We need a good reminder every now and then that we don't have the answers. We may never have all the answers. We have to trust that the Lord loves us and His will is the right one. He sees the big picture that we can't. He works supernaturally.

When you are feeling that your prayer is not significant to God, please don't lose heart. God doesn't always answer in our timing nor does he usually answer the way we expect.

"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen." (Ephesians 3:20-21)

His ways are certainly great and are worthy of glory and our praises. I think it would blow us away if someday the Lord would show us even a glimpse of what He does for us when we're in prayer. Though our prayers don't always get answered the way we hope, knowing that He wants well for us and has promised us much in His word brings me great pleasure to serve Him.

There is a song that is sung by the Newsboys on their Adoration CD. The lyrics of their song "Lord (I Don't Know)" come to mind.

You are the author of knowledge

You can redeem what's been done

You hold the present and all that's to come

Until your everlasting kingdom

Lord, I don't know where all this is going

Or how it all works out

Lead me to peace that is past understanding

A peace beyond all doubt

You are the God of tomorrow

Turning the darkness to dawn

Lifting the hopeless with hope to go on

You are the rock of all salvation

Lord, I don't know where all this is going

Or how it all works out

Lead me to peace that is past understanding

A peace beyond all doubt

Oh, Lord, you are the author

Redeeming what's been done

You hold us in the present

And all that is to come

Lord, we don't know where all this is going

Or how it all works out

Lead us to peace that is past understanding

A peace beyond all doubt

Lyrics courtesy of ChristianLyricsOnline.com

Scripture references are quoted from the NKJV.

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Tristi Pinkston (10839) 29 Sep 2006 09:26 PM

You've hit the nail right on the head, Melissa. It is so hard to wait for answers to our prayers sometimes. We've just been through a very long trial of our faith and we're finally, after eight years, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I spent a lot of time in prayer and a lot of time feeling like I just wasn't being heard, but now I can see some of the reasons and some of the why's, and I know that this is all working out in God's timing. Thank you for this blog.

tmwhalens (275) 05 Jan 2009 06:47 PM

Melissa, SUPER ARTICLE! It has been nearly a month since I have seen either my wife or our beautiful 2 1/2 year old son. It was the day that my wife walked out the door (with our son) while I was at work, then finding her note on the kitchen counter saying that she left, that I threw my hands up at the Lord and told him that I could not go any further in my life 'alone', that I had proven that I could not conquer the demons that made a home in my soul; that I could not see all the goodness (light) in my life for all the darkness that made up the world I was immersing myself in. God changed my life, permanently, on that day. I know that. Any Christian that has truely been blessed by God by Him taking away very precious things that he or she loves, knows that God's Light is always on. We don't need to know where the light switch is. We don't need to worry about tripping over the things we don't see. We just need to look toward Him. Very plain and simple! Whether my wife and son are ever a part of my life again.......please don't misconstrue what I am saying here.......I struggle daily with not being able to see either of them aside from the memories I have of them........I am SO HAPPY to have had the privilege of completely opening up my mind, heart and soul to the Lord. I have an inner peace that was never there before.