God’s timing is everything. His timing is beyond perfection, and if we will allow the knowledge of this truth to be a foundation in our faith, we’ll rest in His peace continually. 2Peter 3:9 reminds us that God is not slow to fulfill His promises, and this is something that should be in the forefront of our minds, especially as it relates to where we want to go in life. Our Heavenly Father isn’t moving us about like puppets. He’s not forcing us to love Him or to obey His Word. We get to make our own choices and decisions in life, and this doesn’t alter His Will one bit. He already knows what we’re going to do before we do it. Allowances for our every action were included in His plan innumerable years ago. God’s Will goes forth whether we are in alignment with it or not, so if we want to live a blessed life, the best thing we can do for ourselves is to find out what His Will is and then follow it.
Ephesians 5:17(ESV), tells us, “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” To behave foolishly is to not understand the Will of God concerning your life. We are an on-purpose people who serve, honor, and obey an on-purpose God. He never does anything just the for sake of doing it. Everything God does has purpose and meaning. Ecclesiastes 3:1(KJV) says, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:” Many of us forget this, and it causes us to try and get ahead of what God has purposed for our lives.
Spiritual growth and maturity
2Timothy 3:16-17(ESV) states, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” God’s purpose is that we train ourselves in His Word so that we are complete in Christ, lacking nothing, and equipped to do all the good things He planned for us long ago.
John 1:14(ESV) says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Jesus Christ is the living Word of God. In other words, he is God’s Word in the flesh. God’s Will for each of us is to become the very image of Christ in every way. He commands us to imitate Christ in all that we do.
Again, this is a truth that must be foundational to our prayers and walk upon this earth. Our spiritual growth and maturity are always going to be a priority with God because He wants us to be all that He created us to be. It’s very easy for us to allow the reality of this truth to slip to second, third, or lower on our lists. We tend to want what we want when we want it, and we expect God to comply, but life doesn’t work this way. As God’s children, we must have a nature like His, and this requires us to have patience, endurance, and the knowledge of His Word.
Want what God wants for you
Some of us are carrying dreams and ambitions that are outside the parameters of God’s purpose for our existence. We crave experiences and encounters that if obtained will drive us further away from the Will of God than closer to it. The passage in Acts 17:26-28 tells us the perfection of God’s plan for each of us. It says that from one man, Adam, He made nations of humans in the earth, and He determined the times of our births and the boundaries of our dwelling. He appointed our lives for His glory, and no detail of our existences has been missed. Verse 28 of this passage tells us that it is in God that we live, move, and having our being.
We should never try to step outside the boundaries that God has set. He alone orchestrated the attributes of our makeup. He knows what is best for us, and this is always where our confidence must lay. In this lifetime, we’re not going to meet all the individuals we’d like to meet. We’re not going to go to all the places we might want to go. We’re not going to do all the things we’d like to do, and the dreams we’re currently holding may not come true. None of this is a reason to be sad. It’s a reason to be glad and incredibly grateful. Our lives belong to God, and He is an astoundingly excellent Steward of them.
He has excellent plans for us, and He demands us to trust this. God knows what we’re supposed to do. He knows where we’re supposed to be, when we’re supposed to be there, and He knows how to get us there. There isn’t anything He cannot do, and He always does those things that expand His love. To get on board with His Will, you ought to want what He wants for you. And you should want this because you understand that there could never be anything better or greater for your life than fulfilling God’s Will, plan, and purpose for your existence.
For thousands of years, we were ignorant concerning God’s Will. He patiently taught us and revealed His love for us. Then, in the fulfillment of His perfect time, He sent Jesus Christ to the earth to redeem us from the curse of sin and death, and He saved us. In the time in which we now live, there are no excuses for not knowing God’s Will. His Word is His Will, and this is why God tells us to make reading and studying His Word a priority.
In our prayers for blessings, there are generally three answers that we receive from God: 1) Wait, 2) It’s not My Will, and 3) let me teach you how to receive this blessing as we patiently walk together in fellowship and peace. Our relationship with God in Christ must be maintained in faith. God makes a distinction between the unbelieving and those that are His, and this distinction is our fully persuaded faith in Him. He’s a generous God, and we must seek Him with reverence and humility, recognizing the glory of all that He is.
God knows what He wants to give us. Our asking for blessings doesn’t alter His Will one bit. Our prayers for blessings build our faith. God teaches us His Will and nature as we continue asking, so that our persistence will move us to believe Him greater and to please Him through the spiritual maturity of our patience. Again, our God knows how to bless us and give us generous gifts, and He’s faithful to do this, but it is our responsibility to remain in a posture of right believing. We must always recognize that God’s timing is perfect. He will never make a mistake, and His desire is to always bless us according to His Will.■
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“The Three Answers We Receive from God” written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2016. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.