Waiting on God – Who is in Charge?
He who counts the stars and calls them by their names is in no danger of forgetting his own children. Charles Spurgeon
Waiting on God to intervene in the challenges we face can cause discouragement. We may even think that God has abandoned us. We become impatient. We want our prayers to be answered now. After all, if God is omnipotent, he can move our mountains for us. He can put everything in place so that our prayers are answered when and how we think they should be answered. But my experience is that God doesn’t pander to our idea of the “right” time. God is the creator of this universe that we are part of. He has created not just the material things we can see but also the intangible or abstract, such as time.
Man’s Plans, God’s Time
As the creator of time, He stands above it. Everything in the universe that He has created runs like clockwork because it hinges on the time frames that have been put in place at the dawn of creation. Days, seasons, tides and the laws of nature are all orchestrated to perform in a particular and precise way because they submit to God and His time frame. Night submits to day and winter surrenders to spring at just the right moment. The tides yield to the gravitational pull exerted by the moon and the rotation of the Earth at just the right moments. If the time frames in which the universe runs should become out of whack by just a fraction of a second, the universe, our world as we know it, will collapse. This is how God created the universe and how He created us. The time frames within which our lives are ordered have been ordained by God. Proverbs 16:9 (ESV) says,
“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”
If we expect the sun to rise and set at the God-ordained time each day, surely we can expect God to ordain the breakthrough, the miracles that we are waiting for, at exactly the time we need them.
When we are unduly impatient with an omniscient God’s timing, we really are suggesting that we know what’s best. Strange isn’t it-we who wear wrist watches seek to counsel Him who oversees cosmic clocks and calendars. Neal A. Maxwell
Reflection
Think about how the creation which you are part of has been established. Think about how everything runs as it should within the time frame ordained by our creator God. Will you submit to God, who establishes your steps within His perfect time frame?
Prayer
Thank You, Lord, that You hold the universe in place and that it runs according to Your divine time frame. Thank You that You hold my life in Your hands. I surrender my discouragement and impatience to You. Help me to wait upon You so that You can do what is best for me in the time frame that You have ordained. I praise You for the breakthrough that is coming. In Jesus’ name, amen.
