God’s timing is perfect. That’s what we’re told all our lives. He has a plan and if we just trust and follow him, everything will line up how it’s supposed to, for our good and His glory.
But what if you’ve been waiting a really long time, and you never seem to be getting any closer to that answer, that opportunity, or the thing you’ve been praying for with all your heart?
Is God’s timing still perfect then?
When Abraham (then called Abram) was 75 years old, God told him to leave his home for a place he would show him, promising him, “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.”(Gen 12:2).
So, Abraham did. He trusted God enough to take his wife Sarah (Sarai), his nephew Lot, and everything he owned to go to a place he didn’t know.
God didn’t give him a roadmap or directions. He just told Abraham to go, and Abraham went, believing God’s word was true.
Indeed, God fairly quickly (at least in the story’s sequence of events) brought Abraham to the land of Canaan and promised it would belong to him and his offspring. Then – nothing. Not for many years.
For the rest of his life, Abraham would live as a nomad and foreigner in Canaan. God had promised him land and descendants that were too many to number, but not yet. Not even in his lifetime.
Abraham’s life is a lesson in waiting.
God showed Abraham the land early on, but the second part of his promise – offspring – took another 25 years to fulfill. By that point, Sarah had given up and even laughed in disbelief when she heard the Lord say she would have a son. She was barren and she and Abraham were 90 and 100 years old, respectively.
Despite Sarah’s doubts, the promised son arrived a year later. I can only imagine the joy and relief felt on that day.
Several hundred years after these events, Abraham’s descendants, the Israelites, returned from a long period of oppression in Egypt to take hold of the land God had marked out for their forefather so many centuries before.
Finally, God’s promise to Abraham was fulfilled.
In Romans 4:3, the apostle Paul says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
Yes, Abraham made some mistakes. He took matters into his own hands at one point, fathering a child with Sarah’s maid Hagar. And yes, this decision had consequences. But overall, Abraham remained faithful to God throughout his life, always trusting and believing in His promises, knowing he would not see the end result.
When I read the story of Abraham, I am reminded that God has the long view of history. I don’t know how things will play out, or the ways he may use me. I just have to trust in his sovereignty and goodness.
I have to believe my waiting will not be in vain. I have to know with all of my being that God’s plan is so much better than mine, and that no matter how long I wait, God is still good, and he is still faithful.
Abraham could’ve walked away. When things got tough and the waiting became too long, Abraham could’ve turned around and gone back to Ur, tried to take a piece of Canaan by force, or done what Lot did and assimilated with the Canaanites. But he didn’t.
He trusted God and worshiped him with everything he had. For that reason, he is known as a forefather to all of us in faith.
So, when you get discouraged and tired of waiting, remember Abraham. Remember that although your life may not look the way you thought it would, neither did his. Remember this, and trust God anyway, just as he did.
