Timing is Everything
Sometimes it’s not a matter of readiness, it’s a matter of timing.
I can’t quite make sense of delay and God’s purposes for it, that’s beyond me, therefore it’s none of my business. Yet I’d be lying if I said what feels like silence, or a lack of movement in the midst of delay, didn’t frustrate me every now and again.
Delay can make you question everything about what you’re believing God for. I’ve found that the question that ails me the most is, “Am I actually hearing God correctly, or am I hearing what I want to hear?”
There comes a point in your relationship with God where, instead of questioning God Himself, you begin to question yourself; where you might be falling short.
As I wait on the Lord, I’ve approached Him in this posture: “Lord, what must I do for you to bless me?” But the truth is, this posture isn’t humility on display, it’s pride. Going before the Lord in such a manner implies that outcomes entrusted to God are dependent on our works rather than His grace, when the Word tells us the opposite (see Ephesians 2:8–9).
I wanted to speak on this because when you’re in alignment with God’s will for your life and still experience delay, it’s not because you’re doing something wrong, need to do more, or that it’s not for you. Sometimes, it’s simply because it’s not time.
I like to be in control. I like to know why, in fact, it’s the reason I’d get in trouble as a child; I always asked why. I believe there’s always a reason, but I’ve learned that walking with God requires surrender. And surrender means not always understanding why, yet still remaining faithful.
Delay is uncomfortable because it feels like a holding place most of the time. Not quite where you used to be, yet not fully where you desire to be, or where God has revealed your path leads.
Most of the time, it’s not the “impossible” promises we receive from the Lord that take us out, it’s the delayed manifestation of those promises. We believed, but we’ve yet to see it. So we take matters into our own hands, or we give up on believing God for those promises, or, in more serious cases, for anything at all.
Where are you right now?
Faith isn’t believing God for what you see, it’s believing Him for what you don’t.
If you find yourself in a place where delay doesn’t seem to be the result of disobedience, then maybe, just maybe, it’s the result of God honoring His perfect timing and plan for your life.
Something right, said or done at the wrong time, when it can’t be received, can produce the opposite effect.
In the same way a job promotion wouldn’t be announced in the middle of a funeral service, a blessing shouldn’t be delivered where there’s no capacity for it to be received as intended. It’s not wrong or evil, the timing is just off. We have no idea what God is protecting us, and our promises, from.
When you hear “timing is everything,” believe it is just that: everything.
This principle was highlighted again in a dream I had the other night:
In it, others were faced with problems that needed solving. I knew what to do to help them, but I hadn’t been released to do so. When I offered my assistance, though it was needed, it wasn’t received. So I stepped back until I was called upon, and when that time came, I was able to show up fully.
As I wait on God, I’ve even begun to question what He asks of me. Deep down, I know what I should do, what I’m called to do, and sometimes even how I’m called to do it. So the issue isn’t necessarily my awareness of the call, it’s my ability to discern the timing of it.
We wait on God, not in confusion, but in faith.
So when a word has been given and confirmed by the Lord, our prayers shouldn’t be asking for what’s already ours or venting about how long it’s taking to arrive, but asking to be positioned to receive, and to discern, God’s perfect timing.
