God’s Timing

If you're waiting for something from God, perhaps there's a reason for it.

God's timing is always right. We believe this—on an intellectual and theological level at least. We know that God is the wisest person out there. We believe that He sees and knows everything. He's well aware of what lies in the future. We believe that His ways are always good and perfect. We assume that God's timing is always right. And we'd be right to assume this.

But in the moment, it's sometimes hard to believe this truth especially when we're waiting for something important to happen. We could be waiting for a number of things in our lives. We could be waiting for a job offer to come. We could be waiting to find a spouse. We could be waiting for a medical appointment. We could be waiting to have a child. Although we believe that God is always right with His timing, it's still hard to sit and wait for that thing to actually happen.

But what if God has a purpose for the waiting? Perhaps God wants to grow our character through the waiting. Perhaps there's something that God wants us to do in the meantime. Perhaps God sees something that we don't see and there's a very good reason why He hasn't given whatever it is we're hoping for.

This happened to me recently. I'm currently in transition in terms of ministry work. I'm moving from one ministry to another. In particular, I've applied to be part of a ministry to serve there. The discernment process has been quite slow. It's taking longer than I thought it would. If God wanted me to be part of this ministry, wouldn't the process go much faster? What's taking so long? I'm actually not bothered by the slowness of the process. In fact, I've become grateful for the lengthier amount of time. I believe that God, in His wisdom, has a purpose for the waiting. And upon some reflection, I believe I've discovered what the waiting is actually for in my particular case.

Certain unique circumstances unexpectedly occurred in my family which requires me to take on more responsibilities than usual. These responsibilities require additional time and energy from me to fulfill. And I actually have the time and energy to do them because God hasn't given me yet my next ministry assignment. In His wisdom, God knew that I'll be needing the extra time and energy to help out at home. So, I'm actually grateful for the slower discernment process. I am able to take on these additional responsibilities while I wait. There is a clear purpose from God for the waiting period that I’m in.

If you're waiting for something from God, perhaps there's a reason for it. Maybe God wants to refine your character. Maybe there's something He wants you to do first. Spend some time reflecting on why God hasn’t given you what you're hoping for. There's probably a wise reason from God for the waiting period that you're currently in.

Barnabas the Monastic

Servant of Christ. Husband. Dad. Modern Monastic. I have a wild ambition in life: get as close to the Lord Jesus Christ as I can while on earth. I explore and integrate ancient Christian monk wisdom in modern everyday life. Lives in Canada.