God's Timing

Recently I got a picture that relates to God's timing. Hopefully you have seen "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring." There is a scene in it where Gandalf is riding into the Shire on a horse-drawn cart. Frodo runs up and jumps on the cart and tells Gandalf that he's late. Gandalf's response is priceless: "A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He always arrives precisely when he means to." This line has enormous spiritual experience, as God is the same way.

Sometimes we think God is late. We desire God not to stretch us in his timing. And yet it is clear from scripture that God often arrives "precisely when he means to". A few passages to consider in this: when Abraham is waiting for the promised child, when Saul is waiting for Samuel to come and make the sacrifice, and the death of Lazarus. In all three cases people expected something to happen sooner than God planned. We expect God to be on our timetable. Yet here we see that God has his own plan and does things when he desires.

My prayer for us is that we would learn to trust God. Difficult circumstances are designed with this in mind, that we would bloom into mature believers that can really trust God in all things. God wants to make us promises, and have us patiently abide in Christ while he prepares to fulfill the promises made. Hopefully we won't create an Ishmael through unbelief. May your faith and trust in God grow in leaps and bounds in this season.

Your companion in Christ,
Sean