Trusting God's Timing

I don't like waiting. 

Can you relate? You probably can—we humans have an acute sense of what we want, and we don't like having to wait to get it. 

As I write this, I'm a senior in high school. I'm at that weird transition stage where I don't really know what my future's going to look like, but there's nothing I can do about it right now—all I can do is wait for information from the colleges I applied to. I can't make my own decisions yet. 

Isaiah 40:31 says that "those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength." I'm waiting on the Lord pretty literally when it comes to college—but I'm also waiting on the Lord for other things. 

I'm waiting for him to act in specific ways in specific areas. For people I've been praying for to be saved. For mental struggles I've been praying to conquer. For life events that haven't happened yet, even though I wish they had. For strength in certain areas I'm lacking in. 

But I'm still waiting for answers. And it's hard. 

Waiting on the Lord involves trusting God's timing instead of our own. And that's hard—we all have a plan that we want to follow, an ideal life that we want to live. When we're faced with the knowledge that we might not get that life right on schedule, our natural response isn't usually to submit. 

There could any number of reasons why we don't trust that God's plans are better than ours. I've noticed two ways in my own life: I want to rush ahead, and I also want to slow down. 

Yes, they're opposites. But I've found both in myself. (Who ever said that human beings were 100% consistent all the time?)

And no matter the root of the struggle, we need to remember that God's plans are better than ours, and that he knows what's best for us far more than we do. 

 

Rushing ahead - Impatience

Sometimes not trusting God's timing looks like rushing ahead—being impatient for something that hasn't happened yet. 

I often do this just because I'm excited. I want to do great things! Life is so full of potential, and I want that potential to be realized. In me. Instantly. 

I want a book contract. I want wonderful social skills. I want 10,000 blog followers. I want a full ride to college. And I want them now! 

Of course, I don't get those things right away. All of them take work. My impatience doesn't reflect reality. 

You might want any number of things. You might want freedom and independence, a stable job, a good scholarship to college, a boyfriend or girlfriend—or even a husband or wife. And those things aren't bad. But you don't get them right away. 

Any number of things could be at the root of wanting to rush ahead with life. For me, I've learned to recognize it as pride. I want those things immediately because I don't want to wait. I want to have all the good things now! 

(Sounds kinda selfish when I put it that way, eh?)

I also think I'm able to handle more than I am. I think I can do anything—I think I can conquer the world. But I can't.

God knows better than me. He knows I'm not ready. And there could be any number of reasons why he hasn't given those things to me yet, reasons that I don't know. 

But I need to learn not to rely on myself. God knows best what I can handle. He knows better than I do, that's for sure. 

The pride of self-reliance leads me to be impatient with God for not giving me certain things exactly when I want them. But God knows better than I do, and I need to learn to trust him. 

 

Slowing Down - I'm Not Ready

Another way to not trust God is to do the exact opposite: fear. 

I get it. I really, really, do. Sometimes I want to just put a pillow over my head and hide from all the responsibilities of adulthood—or even the responsibilities of teenager-hood. 

Because I'm not ready. (I don't feel ready, at least.) I like being safe. I like living at home, I like not having to make a bunch of decisions all the time that have devastating consequences if I get them wrong. 

Basically, I like my comfort zone. And I do not want to leave it. 

We're all afraid of the unknown. We don't like venturing into the future because we don't know what it holds, and what it holds could be bad. We're afraid it holds something we can't handle. 

In fact, we know it holds something we can't handle. We know we're weak. 

It's hard to trust God's timing when you feel like you're being pushed into something you aren't ready for. How does it glorify God if you fail utterly and humiliate yourself? How can God's timing be good for you if everything is premature? 

The prophet Moses definitely felt like God was pushing him into something he wasn't ready for. When the Lord told him to go to Pharaoh and free the children of Israel, he initially protested quite a bit. In Exodus 4:10, he says, "Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue." Even after the Lord rebukes him, he begs him to send someone else. 

Moses didn't want to go back to Egypt because he was afraid. He didn't think he could handle it. 

The Lord's response is telling: “Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.”

It is a rebuke, but it's an encouraging one. Moses should not be afraid because the Lord will tell him how to speak. God reminds Moses that he is the one in control—he is God. 

You don't feel ready. That's okay. Maybe you really aren't ready. That's okay, too. 

The Lord will be with you. He will guide you and direct you. He will teach you what you shall speak, and what you shall do, and how you shall live. He is bigger than any of the obstacles you face. 

God's timing is better than ours even when we feel paralyzed by the unknown. He knows when to push us out of our comfort zones, and he does it with love. 

He knows when to make us lie down in green pastures and when to lead us through the valley of the shadow of death.

 

Proverbs 3:5–6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." 

We are never promised a clear roadmap through life. Jesus isn't going to descend from heaven with an itemized list of what to do every time we have to make a decision.

But we are promised that God is going to guide us if we trust in him. 

Trusting that God's timing is better than ours will give us peace and security far more than we could ever get on our own. It's difficult. But it's a process of learning and growing, and it's a process that may take a lifetime. 

Remember: wait on the Lord. If you do, he will renew your strength.